Toes in the Sand
by StanaTorv
Summary: Sarah Walker has found her perfect. Chuck Bartowski couldn't believe that she came home to him. Now a collection of one shots about our favourite spy couple
1. Breakfast

**This is just a short little one shot that I decided to have a crack at writing while talking to some friends on Twitter about how much we love domestic Chuck and Sarah. General consensus: We need generations of Charah children. That's not too much to ask, is it? **

**Set a little way in the future and is just a little snapshot into the lives of our favourite couple. **

**This is for Jeanne and Marie – enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would never stop. **

**Toes in the Sand**

It was early on a Sunday morning, the sunlight streamed through the opened windows. The smell of bacon frying wafted through the house; the large golden retriever sat at his master's feet in the kitchen, waiting for some to be thrown his way, his tail thumping on the hardwood flooring. Sarah Bartowski nee Walker, stood over the stove top, carefully balancing multiple frying pans filled with all the essential ingredients for the for the perfect family breakfast. She glanced at the clock on the microwave that was beside her: 8:30. She knew she didn't have long before the house would start to stir and she would lose any sort of tranquility this time of the morning afforded her. As much as Sarah loved her quiet time, she wouldn't trade her family for anything.

As Sarah moved gracefully around her kitchen - it was a dance she had perfected over the years - she thought back to a time when she could only ever dream of the 'perfect' life. She wondered what her past self would think of her present self; yes, Sarah Walker – Super Spy, had finally found her niche. Perfect job, perfect house –it had the white picket fence and the red door, perfect family; all her hard work and sacrifices over the years finally paid off in full, and then some. There were moments, though, when it wasn't all sunshine and roses, but for Sarah, too quiet and calm meant trouble.

Speaking of trouble, she paused momentarily as she reached up to get the plates to serve breakfast on. She listened intently as she heard soft footfalls coming from down the hallway. Quickly pulling the plates down and onto the bench next to the stove, she closed the cupboard and turned off the hot plates. As she did that, Sarah felt a two pairs of arms wrap themselves around her, one around her middle and the other around her neck.

"Guess who?" Chuck's soft voice sounded in her ears and his hands covered her eyes, but not before her son's voice reverberated through her other one as he yelled the same question.

Sarah winced in pain, but she had to smile. "Um, let me see." She paused, pretending to ponder her answer. "Is that you Uncle Morgan?" The little boy squealed with laughter.

"No! I'm not Uncle Morgan."

Sarah reached up behind her where her son was resting his head on her shoulder. Patting him lightly on the cheek, she nodded. "No, you're definitely not Uncle Morgan. You're not hairy enough." She stopped again. "Is it Uncle Awesome? He's not hairy."

The little boy laughed again, and this time Chuck did as well. "You're silly, Mommy."

She gasped, "You called me Mommy. I guess that can only be one person then, can't it?" Chuck pulled his hands away from his wife's eyes as she turned her head to come face-to-face with the deep brown eyes of her four-year-old son. "I should have guessed it was you, hey Ty?" Sarah placed a smacking kiss on her son's cheek.

Tyler squealed again, "Yucky, Mommy. No kisses."

Pulling away from the two favourite men, she turned around and put her hand on her heart. "Since when are Mommy's kisses yucky, little man?" She feigned hurt, "Come here and I'll show you yucky." Sarah grabbed her son from Chuck's arms and pulled him into her own, placing kisses and blowing raspberries all over his body. Tyler shrieked with laughter at his mother's actions; his laughter was contagious and Chuck and Sarah laughed along with him; even the dog was barking around them with amusement. When it was all said and done, the little family sunk to the ground, arms held around one another.

After a minute, Sarah looked at her husband and gave him an indulgent kiss. "I almost forgot my good morning kiss," she told him.

Chuck grinned, "Can't forget that. I look forward to them every day."

"You're sweet." She placed another soft kiss on Tyler's cheek. "Ok kiddo, up you hop; I made breakfast."

Tyler stood up and asked, "Bacon?"

Sarah smiled, "When don't I give you bacon, little man?"

He thought for a little bit, "Um, never."

"Exactly." Sarah ruffled the blonde hair on Tyler's head. "Why don't you help Daddy set the table and I'll bring everything out."

"Ok." The little boy scuttled out of the kitchen, his cape from his Batman pyjamas flowing along behind him. Chuck quickly kissed his wife before darting away to follow his son.

Sarah chuckled softly to herself before turning around to serve up breakfast for her little family. For her, this was perfection. This was better than any dream she may have conjured up in the past; it was real and tangible and worth every effort. The universe gave her a gift in Chuck and he, in turn, gave her Tyler, in return she would protect and love them forever.

**So I hope you all enjoyed my first foray into Chuck fanfiction territory. If it so pleases you, feel free to let me know what you thought. **


	2. Christmas Surprise

**So Jeanne and Marie have convinced me to add to this little one shot and continue it. So, I have decided to write little snapshots into the lives of our favourite spy couple. The time-line will jump around from chapter to chapter, but I will tell you at the start when it is set. This goes unbetaed; I try and catch most of the mistakes as I write them, but if there are any glaring mistakes, let me know.**

**Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed the first chapter. Your response was overwhelming. Y'all are awesome.**

**This one is set at the end of season 5.**

**Toes in the Sand- **_Chapter 2_

Carmichael Industries had been up and running for over a year now and business was booming, and even the Buy More's profits were up. There was hardly ever a day when the ex-spies weren't working. The team gelled together better than they had before and even Morgan was getting better with the Intersect in his head.

A week before Christmas and Chuck shut Carmichael Industries down for the holidays, claiming that he wanted to get the Buy More through the busy season without having CI's clients wanting them to do extra jobs. The real reason for the break was so that he could spend more quality time with his wife and make their first Christmas together as a married couple a memorable one.

They put up the tree and the stockings and hung fairy lights around the outside of the apartment. Casa Bartowski was a festive wonderland and the couple couldn't be happier.

Christmas Day rolled around quickly and Chuck decided to take a break from the madness that was occurring in the kitchen. He and Sarah were hosting everyone this year; they were all to arrive later in the evening, but Ellie being Ellie, couldn't help herself and was trying to help Sarah prepare the turkey. Chuck knew that both his sister and wife were excellent cooks, but there was no way he was getting in the middle of these two women when they were fighting. He decided that the perfect course of action was to tactfully remove himself from the battle zone and head into the living room where his video games were.

In the background he heard Sarah attempt to reason with his sister, "Ellie, I love you, but you need to let me handle the turkey my way this year."

"But Sarah, you don't know how Chuck likes it."

That did it; Sarah, who had been increasingly irritable lately, snapped. "Fine then! You do it." She threw the basting brush she had in her hand angrily into the sink. "You're his sister, I'm just his wife; how would I know how he likes the damn turkey?" Sarah stormed out of the kitchen and headed down the hallway to their bedroom, slamming the door behind her after she entered.

Chuck sat unmoving on the couch, eyes wide, he had never seen his wife get so upset about a turkey before. The sight of Ellie standing in front of him, hands on her hips, startled him out of his daze.

"What was that?" she demanded.

"What was what, El?" Chuck feigned ignorance at what had just occurred in the kitchen.

"Don't play dumb with me, Chuck. What's up with Sarah? I've never seen her like this." Ellie folded her arms over her chest and looked at her brother in concern.

Chuck put his XBOX controller down on the seat next to him and stood up. Grabbing Ellie softly by the shoulders, he replied, "I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Placing a soft kiss on her forehead he headed down the hall and stood outside the door. He knocked a couple times on the timber, "Sarah, honey, can I come in?"

He didn't hear any response from the other side of the door, so he waited a few seconds before opening it. "Sarah, I'm coming in. Don't kill me with your ninja skills." Entering the room, he saw his wife face down on the bed, hugging his pillow tightly. Gingerly, Chuck sat down next to her and ran his hand up and down her back soothingly; content not to ruin the quiet with any talking, for the moment anyway. Sarah rolled over to face him.

"Hi," she whispered, "sorry I ruined Christmas."

Chuck brushed her hair away from her eyes and leant down to kiss her softly, "You didn't ruin anything, Sarah."

She sighed, "I didn't mean to get angry with Ellie; getting angry at Ellie is like kicking a puppy." Sarah was getting herself worked up and tears welled up in her eyes. "I just wanted everything to be perfect, Chuck."

"Shhh, honey. Everything is going to be perfect, ok. Ellie's fine, you're fine, we're all fine."

Sarah sat up and curled up against her husband's body and placed a kiss against his chest. "I love you."

Chuck hugged her tightly. "I love you, too." He paused. "If nothing else, this will be the best Christmas ever because it's the first one that I've ever celebrated with a wife, and I think you're pretty amazing, so that makes it doubly awesome."

Giggling, Sarah pulled back and leaned over to the table next to her side of the bed and pulled a small package out of the drawer. She handed it to him, "Merry Christmas, Chuck."

Eyeing it carefully and bringing it up to his ear and shaking it, he asked, "What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Chuck ripped open the festive wrapping and pulled out a rectangular box that was about four inches long. Reading the label, his eyes widened and quickly opened the box. "Is this for real?" he stammered out.

Sarah nodded, "Yeah. It's real. You're gonna be a daddy, Chuck."

Letting out a cry of delight, Chuck pulled Sarah into his arms and kissed her senseless. "This really is the best Christmas ever. Thank you."

Sarah smiled. "No, thank you, Chuck. You've made every dream I have ever had come true."

"It's my pleasure."

**There's chapter two for you. If you have any suggestions about what you want to see in the lives of these awesome people, just drop me a line and I'll see what I can come up with.**

**On a side note, I finished playing Mass Effect and am onto the second one and I am so glad they got Yvonne to use her Aussie accent in it. I'm playing as the guy John Shepard…I'm gonna make him have sex with her. I'm terrible, yet I regret nothing. **

**Sam**


	3. Sarah's Day

**Seeing as this story is called 'Toes in the Sand', I had to actually write a story that contained a scene at the beach. This is set when Tyler is about seven years old. Enjoy!**

**Thanks so much for all your lovely comments; they're awesome to receive and I try to respond to each of you.**

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand- <strong>_**Chapter 3**_

Tyler Bartowski loved the beach. He loved the sand between his toes and the feeling of the waves when they crashed against his wiry frame. He knew his mother loved the beach; she would tell him stories about her and his dad and the beach. There was the time where they sat together, staring out into the sunrise after he had defused his first bomb. There was also that time where his dad had saved his Aunt Ellie's wedding and moved it to the beach. Photos of that day and many more were scattered throughout their house. He loved looking at those photos; they reminded him that he had the best family in the world.

Sitting down at his desk on Friday at school, Tyler and his second grade class were working on Mother's Day gifts; he knew that he had to do something special for his mom. Reaching for the crayons and yellow-coloured paper that was in the middle of the table, he got to work on the card. Ty worked diligently, concentrating so hard that he didn't even hear the bell ring to go home.

"Tyler," a voice behind him called. Looking up he saw the face of his teacher, Mrs. Bailey. She knelt down beside him, "You can go home now, Ty."

"I just wanted to finish this for my mom." He picked up the card and showed it to her.

"That's a great card, Ty. Your mom is going to love it." Tyler flashed her the trademark Bartowski grin. "Ok, little man, get out of here."

Packing up his things, Tyler trotted out to the front of the school where his dad was waiting for him. ."Hey champ." They gave each other a high-five before Chuck opened the back door of the car to let his son hop in.

Getting into the driver's seat, he twisted around to look at Tyler. "How was your day?" he asked.

"Good," Tyler replied.

"Did you do anything interesting?"

Tyler shrugged. "I dunno."

Chuck laughed quietly as he pulled out of the car park and started on their journey home. After a few minutes of silence, Tyler piped up. "Hey dad, do we have a glass jar at home that I could have?"

"Why?" he questioned, looking at his son in the rearview mirror.

"I want to make something for mom for Mother's Day. I know we've already gotten her a present, but I want this to be just from me."

Chuck smiled, "That sounds really cool." He thought for a moment, "I don't think we've got any spare, but how about we head over to Large Mart and then you can pick one out."

"Ok. Then can we go to the beach?"

Chuck had no idea what his son had planned but he was willing to go along with whatever he had in mind. "Sure, buddy; we can go to the beach."

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><p>The two Bartowski boys wandered through Large Mart looking for the perfect glass jar. Chuck had called home to let his wife know that they were going to be late. Ten minutes after they had entered they were on their way to the beach. When they pulled up, Chuck took off his shoes and made Tyler do the same. Rolling up their jeans, they headed down to the sand.<p>

Just before the sea met the shore, Tyler knelt down and filled half the jar with the coarse, dry sand. When he finished, he brushed himself off and walked closer to the shoreline, Chuck following close behind him, allowing his son to do his thing. As they walked, Ty would occasionally bend down and pick up a shell that had washed up on the sand and put it in the jar. When it was sufficiently filled, he turned around to his father.

"I'm finished." He held up the jar for his father to look at.

"Good job. You wanna head home? Mom said she was cooking your favourite for dinner."

Tyler's chocolate eyes lit up with delight, "Tacos! Yes!" He did a twirl before handing his father the glass jar and racing to the car. Chuck chortled at his son's antics; he really did love tacos.

The boys pulled up to the house, but before they went inside, Chuck placed the jar at the bottom of Tyler's school bag so that Sarah wouldn't see it when they walked in. Chuck opened the door and Tyler raced through it, he spied his mother sitting on the red couch reading a book. He ran over to her and enveloped her in a hug. "Hi, mom."

Sarah pulled him up on her lap, mindful of her ever expanding, five-month-pregnant belly. "Hey, baby. How was your day?"

"Good. Daddy took me to the beach."

"Did he now? Was it fun?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chuck come back down the hallway after dropping off Tyler's bag in his room and smiled at him.

"Yep. We only went for a walk though. No swimming today." Tyler continued to prattle on about his day to Sarah as Chuck finished preparing dinner for his wife.

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><p>After dinner, Tyler excused himself and headed into his room.<p>

"Any idea what that's about?" Sarah asked Chuck as they sat entwined together on the couch, content with just being with each other.

"It's a surprise." Chuck ran his hand over her stomach, loving the fact and feeling that a baby was growing inside of her once more.

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><p>Sunday morning rolled around and it saw Chuck and Tyler preparing a Mother's Day breakfast-in-bed feast for Sarah. Eggs, toast, bacon, hash browns and orange juice; it was a meal fit for a pregnant queen. The Bartowski boys carried it into her, grinning as her eyes sparkled with delight at the food they had brought for her. Sarah heartily dug in as the boys quickly snuck out and then back in again, hands behind their backs.<p>

She looked up at them at the foot of the bed with their Bartowski grins plastered on their faces. "What are you boys up to?"

"Nothing," Chuck replied innocently as Tyler shook his head emphatically.

Sarah narrowed her eyes at her husband. "Chuck. What did I say about secrets?"

Chuck shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, honey, I can't remember."

"U-huh." She turned her head to look at her son. "Ty, anything you want to share? You remember what happens when you keep secrets from mommy?"

Tyler's eyes widened and he rushed around to her side of the bed and handed her a wrapped present. She put her plate down beside her leant down and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you, baby. I'm too tired to tickle you today anyway."

Chuck came around to where Tyler was and sat down at Sarah's side, handing her another wrapped package. "This is from both of us. Happy Mother's Day, Sarah." He kissed her softly before pulling back, picking Tyler up and sitting him on his lap.

Sarah opened the joint present first, wanting to save Tyler's for last. Inside was a pamper package that included a trip to a day spa, new pyjamas that Ty picked out and an assortment of bath products. "Thank you, guys. It's awesome."

"The Captain got the day spa package for Ellie as well, so we thought you would like to go together."

"Thanks, honey." Sarah then picked up the gift that Tyler had given her and unwrapped it slowly. Inside were the glass jar and a handmade card. On the front he had written _'To Mommy' _with a picture of the three of them at the beach. Inside he had written, _'You are the best mom ever. I love you. Love Tyler.'_ Sarah read the card and tears pooled in her eyes; wiping them away she looked up at her son and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I love you too, Ty."

He beamed, "Look at the present, mom. I made it myself."

Sarah picked up the glass jar and examined it. Glued to the inside wall was a photo of their whole family – Chuck, Sarah, Tyler, the Awesomes, Morgan, Alex and Casey – at one of their regular barbeques at the beach. It was half filled with sand and topped up with shells; there was even a shell glued to the lid.

"It was from two weekends ago; I wanted to find a picture with your belly so that the baby could be in it too." Tears were streaming down Sarah's face now and she pulled her son from her husband's lap and onto her own, hugging him fiercely.

"That is the best present I have ever gotten. Thank you, Ty."

"Love you," he whispered in her ear.

"Love you more, baby boy."

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><p><strong>So there was chapter three. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have another idea for chapter four that I will write tomorrow instead of studying for my exam that's on Thursday morning. Who studies anyway? Certainly not I… not for ancient history anyway. My education exam is next week; I'll have to study for that one… I think I went to fewer classes for that than history. There was a little shout-out to my high school English teacher in this chapter; without her, I don't know where I'd be.<strong>

**Anywho, thanks for reading. Please leave a review if you feel that way inclined. **


	4. No more handlers

**Just a funny story before we start, you don't have to read it, just skip past the A/N and onto the story. So anyway, I was studying for my first exam, it was on at 8:30am yesterday morning; I had to catch the 6am train to get there. I looked at my timetable to find out what room I was in for my exam and realised, at 5:20am, that I had studied for the wrong exam. It was modern history, not ancient. Absolutely screwed. I did answer 6 of the 10 questions…how well? Well, I'll find that out when I go down from my HD to a credit after I fail. **

**Funny story over. Thanks to everyone for your kind words. I quite enjoy opening up my emails to find a bunch of reviews. You all rock!**

**This one is a continuation of the jogging scene in 'Versus the Bearded Bandit'. I kept most of the dialogue of that scene in it, but you'll know when it's my stuff.**

**Chapter 4- **_**Toes in the Sand**_

It was just after dawn and Chuck was jogging along the path in the park. Over the years of being a spy and working with the government's best agents, he had learned to trade in the exercise of his thumbs with actual, real life stuff. Devon liked it because he had an extra exercise partner on occasion; 'Looking awesome, bro' was a common statement now. To top it all off, having a super hot wife helped in his motivation for wanting to be in peak physical shape.

Chuck had been running for a couple miles when his right leg started to cramp up; he hopped around on it, trying to keep the blood pumping.

"No, no, keep going. It'll get harder if you stop." Sarah came up beside him from around the corner.

"Sarah? I thought you'd still be in bed; it's so early." He really wasn't expecting his wife to catch up with him on his morning run.

"No. I'm used to this. Us spies without the Intersect have to find time to exercise," she replied as she kept jogging ahead of him.

Snapping out of his daze, Chuck caught a hold of her, intent on talking to her about the handling of Morgan and of him. She turned, hands on her hips; the diamond on her hand glinted in the early morning sun.

"I asked you to be Morgan's handler because handling someone entails bringing out the best in people. And what's a better example for Morgan than you? So, no, I'm not handling you because a, you don't need a handler anymore and b, because handlers can't do this…" she stepped in close to him, placed her hands either side of his face and drew him in for a quick kiss. Sarah pulled herself out of his arms, "C'mon, let's go!" she dashed quickly down the path.

"Oh no, that's not fair." Chuck tore after her, "You can't just do that!"

Sarah laughed as she heard him trying to catch up, "Yes, I can."

When he reached her a good ten seconds later, Chuck noticed a patch of grass off to the left of the path. Snatching her hand in his, he stopped and swung her around into his body, his arms wrapped around her waist and lowered them down to the ground; Sarah on her back with Chuck hovering over the top of her.

Giggling, Sarah punched him in the arm with as much force as her position would allow. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Because you ruined my run."

Chuck dipped his head and kissed her softly. "I'll make it up to you."

"You better do better than that if you want my forgiveness," she teased as she arched her body into his and captured his lips again. She ran her hands through his hair as the kiss intensified. Sarah loved kissing him.

Chuck groaned; her turquoise tank top and tight, black running pants left little to the imagination as he caressed her toned stomach. Yes, Chuck loved having a super hot wife.

Hearing a cough above them, the couple reluctantly separated and sat up to see who had pulled them out of their passionate haze. Seeing an elderly woman grinning down at them, they stood and brushed themselves off, blushing at being caught out. Even though they knew making out in a public place wasn't such a great idea, sometimes they couldn't help themselves.

"Sorry about that," Chuck apologised.

The woman shook her head, "It's no problem dear. I remember what being young and in love was like." She paused. "And before you know it, fifty years has gone by and in the end you only have the memories." Turning and looking at Sarah, the woman continued, "Looks like you have a keeper there. Don't waste a minute of your time."

Sarah smiled and wrapped her arms around Chuck's side; "I plan on keeping him forever. He's all I could ever want."

"Good." She looked at Chuck, "Now you, mister, you treasure her."

Chuck kissed Sarah's temple and grinned, "Every day."

The woman smiled at them, "Well I should let you two go. I wish you every happiness."

"Thank you," Sarah replied as they watch the woman head off in the opposite direction. When she was out of sight, Sarah looked up at Chuck, "You want to head home and get working on that 'treasuring' of me?"

Chuck's eyes grew wide as she threw him a saucy wink, "Oh yeah."

**So there is chapter four. It's a bit shorter than the other ones, but I just wanted to write it. That scene at the end of the episode was adorable and Chuck and Sarah are just so cute together. I love them.**

**Sorry if you're getting a sugar overload on this fic, I'm having fun writing it and it gets the crazy shipper thoughts I have out on paper so that they don't overload my brain… not that that would necessarily be a bad thing. **


	5. Gimme that girl

**So I've decided to write a bit of a song fic for this next chapter. The song is 'Gimme That Girl' by Joe Nichols. It's such a sweet and beautiful song; I love it. **

**This is set all over the joint as each verse is a little snippet of a bigger picture. I'm trying something new when it comes to song fics, so bear with me. **

**Big thanks to Chuckaholic and Coreymon77…you guys are awesome! Such kind words. **

**Toes in the Sand – **_**Chapter 5**_

_Hang up that red dress_

_Let down your hair_

_Cancel those reservations_

_There's no need to go nowhere_

_As good as you're looking right now_

_Girl I bet you're thinkin' I'm crazy_

_There's a side of you that I wanna see_

_That never ceases to amaze me._

On one of their rare nights off, Chuck wanted to do something special for Sarah; they hadn't been out on a real date since they had moved in with each other. Chuck made reservations at a semi-upscale restaurant after he told Sarah to dress up and that he would be by to pick her up. He was going all out; he let her get dressed on her own while he changed at Devon and Ellie's place, he even bought her a bouquet of flowers.

At seven o'clock sharp he knocked on their door. He had on his nicest pair of Levi's, signature Converse and baby blue dress shirt, rolled up in the sleeves; a crisp white tie finished the ensemble.

Sarah opened the door up to reveal the sexy little red dress she had bought for the occasion. It was knee-length and tied up behind her neck like a halter-top. Chuck whistled low and long at the beauty of his girlfriend.

"You like?" Sarah asked as she did a little twirl, showing of the naked expanse of her back.

Chuck gulped and tired to control his breathing. "I love," he choked out. "Are you sure we have to go out?"

She narrowed her eyes at him as she grabbed the flowers out of his hands. "Yes. I spent hours searching for this dress, so you're going to take me out, feed me, dance with me and then bring me home and then you can take me out of it."

Sarah could see Chuck's brain ticking over and watched as his eyes lit up in delight at their plans. He grinned at her. "Ok. Come on then."

_Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess_

_Sleepy little smile with her head on my chest_

_That's the you that I like best_

_Gimme that girl_

Chuck wined, dined, danced and loved Sarah that night. When they stirred awake the next morning, Sarah was laying half on him, hair splayed everywhere; a sheet was barely covering them as the sun filtered through the curtains. Chuck kissed her forehead softly as he felt her drift into consciousness.

Sarah opened her eyes and looked up at him with a sleepy smile. "Morning."

"Morning," he replied, running his fingers through her golden tresses that fell down her naked back.

"Thank you for last night; I had a great time."

He smiled at her sweetly, "It was my pleasure."

Dragging her fingers up his chest, Sarah leered at him hotly. "It most definitely was." Getting up on her knees, she crawled up on top of him and leaned down and captured his lips in a passionate kiss, nipping and sucking until he groaned in pleasure; his hands never idle on her body. Chuck and Sarah quickly lost themselves in each other, never wanting to part.

No words were spoken until the height of their passion where a series of 'I love you' were whispered as well as shouted.

_Gimme that girl lovin' up on me_

_Old t-shirt and a pair of jeans_

_That's the you I wanna see_

_Gimme that girl._

"Hey Sarah, have you seen my 'Empire Strikes Back' tee shirt anywhere?" Chuck asked as he walked into the living room in search of his fiancé. They were having a lazy day, and he needed his old, well-worn shirt in order to be completely relaxed. He had bought it for when he and Morgan had gone to see the re-release of the Star Wars movies back in 1997. It was his favourite shirt.

As he stumbled into the living room in only a pair of jeans, he spied Sarah stretched out on the couch, in jeans as well, but also sporting his Star Wars shirt. She was sound asleep with a book lying open on her lap. Chuck's heart skipped a beat; she was gorgeous and so very innocent. He pulled out his phone from his back pocket, and after unlocking it; he opened up the camera and took a picture of his girl. _His girl. _He still couldn't believe that at the end of the day, she came home to him.

Chuck set the picture as his wallpaper before turning around and heading back into their bedroom to find a new shirt. Sarah could pilfer that one all she wanted; it looked a hundred times better on her than it did him anyway.

_Gimme a girl that's beautiful_

_Without a trace of makeup on_

_Barefoot in the kitchen,_

_Singing her favorite song_

_Dancin' around' like a fool_

_Starin' in her own little show_

_Gimme the girl that the rest of the world_

_Ain't lucky enough to know._

When Tyler was born, Sarah took some time off from the spy game and left Chuck and Casey to run things. Tyler was now three months old and the spitting image of his father. Chuck had been gone for a few days on a mission that had sent him down to Venezuela to find a drug lord and bring him into US custody. Finally, he eyed his front door. Home at last. He checked his watch; it was only eleven in the morning. Tyler may be down for his nap, which meant Sarah would be too, or they could be awake. Entering quietly, the first thing he saw, rather heard was the stereo playing Sarah's iPod. It was her Dean Martin playlist that he had made for her.

After he had played her 'Feeling Good', Sarah had discovered the old crooners; from Sinatra, to Martin and the rest of the original Rat Pack, she couldn't get enough.

Coming around the corner, and looking into the kitchen, he saw his wife dancing around and singing along to 'An evening in Roma,' while his son sat in his bouncer on the bench, giggling and gurgling away at his mother's antics. She was wearing a grey singlet top and cut off Daisy Dukes; she had never looked sexier.

Chuck quietly moved closer to the kitchen and leant his arms on the serving bench and looked down at Tyler, wiggling his fingers at the little boy, but with his focus still on his wife. When the song finished, Chuck clapped his hands in applause, startling Sarah out of her little world.

"Geeze, Chuck. I could have shot you if I had my gun."

Chuck grinned, "Lucky for me you didn't huh?"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Yeah. Lucky." Leaning over the bench and Tyler, she drew Chuck in for a kiss. "I missed you," she told him when the broke apart.

"Me too. But I'm home now; no Venezuelan drug lord can keep me away forever."

"Good to know, because you know, if they tried, I'd tie the little one to my back and haul your ass back home to us."

Chuck's eyes widened. "I'm so glad you're on my side."

Sarah laughed as she kissed him again. "Go shower, lunch will be ready when you're done."

"Yes, ma'am." Chuck snapped a teasing salute before heading down to the bathroom.

Sarah leant against the bench and tickled her son's belly. "Yeah, you're happy that daddy's home too, huh, little man?" Tyler giggled and Sarah kissed him on the head. "I love you, Ty."

**Ta Da! So what did you think? I've got a bunch of ideas floating around in my head and I will get to them all eventually. If you wanna see anything in particular, just let me know. **


	6. Kidnapped pt 1

**This was my idea of how Tyler came to know about his parents being spies. **

**All mistakes are my own, as I don't own Chuck, just a tweet from Robert Duncan McNeil. **

**Toes in the Sand- **_**Chapter 6**_

"Ok you two, it's time for lights out." Sarah stood leaning on the frame of the door, during the majority of the story, but only interrupted when her boys were too unruly for quiet time.

Tyler pouted. "But moooooommmm," he whined, "The Nerd needs to save the Ninja Princess from Shaver Shaw McGraw. He's holding her captive in Paris."

"Oh no!" Sarah put her hand to her heart in shock. "How is he ever going to do that?"

"By using his super nerd powers of Flash Drive and Bios Boost to push him over the bridge and swooping in and saving her," he replied, without missing a beat.

"Of course! How could I have ever forgotten that?" Sarah grinned at her son as she bent down to kiss him goodnight. "Sleep well, my little man."

"Love you, mom and dad." Tyler pulled the covers up over himself as Chuck and Sarah turned around and heading out of his bedroom, telling him that they loved him as well.

The bedtime story was a nightly routine for the Bartowski family and Tyler excitedly looked forward to _'The Adventures of the Ninja Princess and the Nerd',_ as told expertly by his own father. In these stories were spies and treasure maps, pirates and bounty. Chuck would sit on the end of Tyler's bed and act out the story that he had planned for that night; his antics leaving Tyler in a fit of giggles until Sarah had to be the big bad wolf and settle them both down for bed. It had been like that since the start of the bedtime stories when Tyler was three years old. Now at almost seven, he knew all the stories off by heart and would correct his father if he got the details wrong.

Heading into their room, Sarah turned to her husband and asked, "Have you ever thought about writing those stories you tell him down? They would make pretty cool books for kids."

Chuck threw on some pyjama pants, took off his shirt and flopped, stomach first, on the bed, ogling his wife as she found her favourite shirt and slipped it on over her naked body.

"Chuck! Did you hear what I said?" Sarah stood in front of him, hands on her hips.

Snapping out of his daze, he looked up at her, giving her the Bartowski smile. "Sorry, I was just appreciating the view. What did you say?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Nothing really, I was just wondering if you ever considered publishing the stories you tell Tyler."

"Our spy stories that I Marvel up so that they're semi-child friendly?"

"Yeah. They'd be great."

Chuck reached up and took a hold of Sarah before sat back and leant against the headboard, pulling her with him and holding her against his chest.

"I don't know, Sarah. I like that they're our stories and I think that Tyler does too. He doesn't have to share." He shrugged. "If Ty wants to one day write them and publish them, I'm not going to stop him."

Sarah placed a lingering kiss on his cheek. "You're the best dad ever, Chuck. We're so lucky to have you."

"I think we're all pretty lucky," he leant down and captured her lips with his own, pouring every emotion into the kiss. "Think I can get luckier?" he asked, as they broke apart.

Sarah sat up and pulled her shirt back up over her head before crawling back over to him. "I think that can be arranged."

* * *

><p>The clock ticked over to 2am and all was quiet in the Bartowski house; Chuck and Sarah were tangled in each other's arms and Tyler was crashed in his own bed, his <em>X-Men <em>duvet cover wrapped around him. No one suspected anything would ever happen.

They were quick and they were quiet and professional. They cut the main and the backup power for the alarm at the same time. Using an electric lock pick, they made quick work of the front door. Two entered the house, while two kept look out; one of the interior pair made quick work of tranquilising Chuck and Sarah and their dog, while the second of the masked intruders got what they came for. Tyler.

Chuck and Sarah awoke from their drugged haze the next morning to their dog barking at the bedroom door.

"What happened?" asked Chuck groggily as he pulled the tranquiliser dart out of his shoulder before moving to the one in Sarah's arm.

Quickly Sarah sat up and shot out of bed, hastily throwing on a robe that she found near the foot of the bed. "Tyler," she breathed as she dashed out the door, almost tripping over the large body of the Golden Retriever who had parked himself at the entrance. "Out of my way, Caboose." Crashing through her son's door and seeing his bed empty, Sarah dropped to her knees. "No! This can't be happening. It's all a nightmare," she kept telling herself as Chuck came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her seemingly small frame as she wept silently.

Chuck kissed her softly on the back of her head, "We'll get him back, Sarah. I promise you."

* * *

><p>Pulling themselves together, barely, Chuck and Sarah gathered any evidence from around the house that they could find and made their way over to Castle, calling in Casey and Verbanski en route.<p>

"So what have you found so far?" Casey asked, sitting at the conference table next to his wife.

Chuck ran his fingers through his hair and sighed softly. "As of this moment, nothing. We don't know who or why they took our son, but when I find out, they're going to pay."

Casey grunted and nodded in agreement. "You have surveillance; do you have the feed for that?" Verbanski questioned.

"Yeah, we have it routed here, our alarm system comes through here too. The computers would normally send out an alert if the power was tampered with," Chuck replied.

"I'll check it out." Verbanski stood up from the table and set to work trying to piece together the timeline of events.

Throughout the exchange, Sarah was completely silent. As Casey and Chuck continued to work on finding out what happened to Tyler, she quietly excused herself and headed down to the gym.

An hour later, Chuck found Sarah taking out all of her frustrations on the punching bag that was swinging wildly from the ceiling. Moving so that he was standing directly behind the bag, Chuck braced it with his weight, giving her a more stable target to work with.

"Why Tyler? Why did they take our son?" she asked as she pummeled the bag with a barrage of precise kicks and punches, knocking Chuck slightly off kilter.

"I don't know, honey."

"It's not good enough, Chuck! He's seven years old, he's innocent of everything." Tears started flowing down Sarah's cheeks and her movements started to falter.

"I know, Sarah. We'll get him back. I promise."

Sarah stopped attacking the bag and dropped her hands to her side before slumping to the matted floor of the gym, her body wracking with tears. "You can't promise things like that, Chuck," she sobbed.

Chuck crawled over to her and pulled her close, wrapping his entire body around her sweaty one. "Shh…I can promise that because there is nothing I won't do to get him back to us."

Sarah buried her face into her husband's chest, drying her face with his shirt. "I'm sorry. I thought my spy mode would have kicked in by now."

Chuck laughed softly. "We're all entitled to our off days." He kissed her softly. "Why don't you have a shower and freshen up then come back upstairs and we can get to work in finding Tyler, ok?"

She nodded in agreement as she untangled herself from Chuck's grasp and headed to the locker room. Before she left the room, she turned back to him. "I love you, Chuck."

* * *

><p>It was almost lunchtime when the call came in.<p>

"Carmichael Industries." Chuck answered the phone succinctly.

"Mr. Carmichael, we have your son," the garbled voice on the end said. Chuck clicked his fingers to get everyone's attention. He mouthed 'trace' to Casey, who quickly rushed to the computer triangulate the signal of the call. "We need you to hand over the agent known as Frost to us by five o'clock tomorrow, or your son will die."

"Let me talk to my son and we will consider this deal," Chuck demanded.

Hearing silence and then a rustling on the other end of the line, Chuck started getting worried. "Dad?"

"Ty. Hey buddy. Everything is gonna be ok, you hear me?"

"I'm scared dad."

"I know you are. Be brave for me Ty."

The garbled voice returned, "Now, about our deal. You will bring Frost to the private airfield just outside of JFK. There I will have agents waiting. When they have Frost in custody, I will release your son."

Chuck thought for a moment, "No deal. We swap them at the same time. I don't know you or trust you to keep your end of the bargain."

"Trust me, Chuck. I only want Frost; your boy is worthless to me. Double cross me, however, and I promise you, I will kill your son." The phone suddenly went dead.

**TBC**

_Don't kill me… I wanted to see what a cliffhanger would be like. If you don't kill me too bad, the next part will be up tomorrow. _

_**AN:**_** So I must point out that I hate the word 'duvet'… we use 'doona' here in my part of Australia and 'duvet' is really quite foreign, as is the use of 'z' instead of 's' or the 'a' instead of the 'y' pyjamas or the lack of use of the letter 'u'. I don't mind writing 'mom' instead of 'mum' because they do have American accents and if you write for an American show, you should use the written form of their spoken words, otherwise it just looks stupid. **_End Rant._

**Oh and my Marvel joke was supposed to be ironic, because we all know the original Marvel universe was not created with children in mind.**

**In other news, uni is done for the year! Bring on the holidays. Hello beach, sun, beer and cricket. **


	7. Kidnapped pt 2

**The continuation as promised. Enjoy! Also, I'm glad that I shocked a couple people with an actual storyline. Gotta keep you on your toes (pun intended). **

**And I know that I said that I'd have this to you yesterday, but I got distracted by cooking and baking and work and Hart of Dixie. Please forgive me. **

**Toes in the Sand - **_Chapter 7_

_"Trust me, Chuck. I only want Frost; your boy is worthless to me. Double cross me, however, and I promise you, I will kill your son." The phone suddenly went dead._

Chuck placed the phone back in the cradle and looked up at his team. "Did you get a trace?"

Casey shook his head. "They were pros; they were rerouting the call from all over the world."

"What did they want, Chuck? Is Tyler alright?" Sarah asked, worry seeping into her voice.

Chuck gave his wife a tight smile. "Tyler is fine, for now. Apparently they want Frost."

"Frost? As in your mother?" Sarah narrowed her eyes, thinking intently.

Chuck nodded. "That's what they said. We need to hand her over tomorrow at 5pm at the private terminal at JFK airport."

Sarah narrowed her eyes, thinking intently. "Why would they want Frost? Everyone knows she's been out of the game for nine years."

"The Volkoff and Frost files were sealed when the case was closed. People would only know about Frost if they have old intel," Casey continued on Sarah's train of thought. "Whoever he is, he's been under the radar since the gap between The Ring and Volkoff."

"Chuck, search all government agents between those times that may have had access to the Volkoff and Frost files," Sarah told him as she stood and placed her hands flat on the table, watching as her husband tapped a few keys on the keyboard in front of him and started the search. "This guy has waited almost ten years to get Frost, so why would he choose to strike now?"

"We should get Mary in here; maybe she can shed some light on this?" Casey suggested, "Plus, I think she may want to take a piece out of whoever kidnapped her grandson."

"I'll call her now," Chuck replied, reaching for his phone.

"In the meantime, we should call and get the guys to prep the jet. We're going to need it." Sarah paused, "Verbanski." The older woman's head darted to the sound of Sarah's voice, "If we find this guy, we may need your help in taking him down, especially if he's heavily protected."

Verbanski nodded, "Got it." She left the table and made her way into one of the many hallways to inform her infiltration team.

* * *

><p>Over the last few years, Sarah and Verbanski had been working on their civility with one another, especially after Casey went and married her a couple years back. Their 'relationship' of sorts was still rocky, but they were getting there.<p>

It didn't take long for the hurricane known as Mary Bartowski to make her way down to Castle.

"What do you know so far?" she demanded of her son and daughter-in-law as she stood directly in front of them, her hands on her hips and her eyes full of fear and anger.

"At this point, not much," Chuck replied, running his fingers through his hair. "For some reason, whoever took Tyler wants you."

"Me?"

Taking a hold of Chuck's hand, Sarah continued, "We think he's someone who has been out of the loop for nearly ten years. We're searching the database now; hopefully something will pop and we can go after this guy."

Mary nodded. "How can I help?"

"You could go through your old mission files and see if there's anything in them that may shed some light on who would want you," Chuck told her.

"Sure, anything to get my grandson back safely." Mary pulled Chuck and Sarah into a hug. "We'll get him back, I promise you."

"Thanks, mom."

* * *

><p>It was nearing seven o'clock that night when Casey and Verbanski went out to grab some Chinese for dinner; it was going to be a long night. Chuck, Sarah and Mary sat at the table pouring over files in silence while occasionally looking up to the computer to see if the computer had narrowed down the search for possible suspects.<p>

Half an hour later, the computer alerted them to their suspect list. "It says there's five possible candidates," Chuck said as he clicked on their profiles.

"Andrew Jones, Scott Brown, Brian Smith, David O'Neill and Tom Baker," Sarah read out.

Chuck rolled his eyes, "Tom Baker? Really? These guys really need to work on their aliases."

Sarah looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Mary laughed, "I'm surprised Chuck hasn't gotten you to watch _Dr. Who _with him yet."

"No, not yet. But it's on the list, right after _Battlestar Galactica _– eighties and modern," Chuck replied.

"You can throw that list of suspects away," came an unexpected voice from the top of the stairs; the sound of his footsteps echoed through Castle, as everyone looked at him in stunned silence as he made his way down to them. Standing at the head of the table, dressed in a light grey suit, the man's cobalt blue eyes shone with his trademark mischief. "What?" he put the file he was carrying on the table and took in the shocked looks on the faces of Chuck and Sarah. "You look like you've all seen a ghost," he said, grinning.

"Bryce?" Chuck spluttered out. "I thought you were dead."

"The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated," he quoted.

"I can see that. What are you doing here?"

Bryce shrugged, "Giving you the name of the man who has kidnapped your son."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at her ex-partner and boyfriend, "Why don't you sit down and explain it to us from the start, Bryce."

He smiled at her as he followed her directions, "Ok, first off, I've been undercover for the last ten years. The CIA had me dig up intel on every crime ring possible that they would then pass onto you or other agents to take them down. I was an information runner. By doing this, I could keep tabs on anyone and everyone, including you."

"So what does this have to do with someone wanting mom?"

"Well, this guy, I met him about a year after I went undercover, I knew who he was, but he didn't know me because the CIA made sure that every file he ever read about me was photo free. So, anyway, he has been, for the last ten years, trying to build up an organization to take down the government. I've been working with him and feeding intel – most of it old. That's how he found Frost and her dealings with Volkoff."

"But how did he know to take Tyler to get to her? No one but the CIA directors knows that she's Chuck's mom?" Sarah asked.

Bryce sighed, "To bring him out in the open with any hope to take him down, we needed him to do something drastic. The CIA made me give him the information so that we could flush him out."

Chuck angrily leapt off his seat, and jumped over the table to where Bryce was sitting opposite him. Grabbing him by the tie and collar, Chuck yelled in his face, "You put my son in danger just so you could bring down one man. He is not a pawn in your game, Bryce!"

"I did what I had to do, Chuck." He diverted his eyes and locked onto Sarah's, "You understand, don't you Sarah? Tell him." Chuck violently let him go before returning to his own chair.

Sarah shook her head and crossed her arms over he chest, "Not this time, Bryce. Not when it comes to my son."

Bryce fixed his tie, "I'm sorry about Tyler, I really am. But, trust me when I say this, when I tell you who this guy is, you will want to get him as badly as I do."

"Well why don't you enlighten us then?" Up until that point, Mary Bartowski had been silent, allowing her son and Sarah to take the reigns.

Picking up the file he brought with him, Bryce opened it to the profile page and slid it across to Chuck and Sarah.

"Oh, my God."

Chuck looked at his wife, "Two ghosts in one day; there's a new record."

Sarah nodded, "You can say that again."

* * *

><p>The next day, the team, prepped and ready – as they'd ever be - headed to the private terminal at LAX.<p>

"So is everyone clear on the plan?" Bryce asked as the six of them entered the Carmichael Industries' private jet, preparing for their flight to New York.

"Yeah we got it," Casey grunted as he pushed past Bryce and made his way to his seat, Verbanski close on his heels.

Bryce looked at Chuck and Sarah. "I know that apologising isn't going to be enough to earn your forgiveness, but I promise you that I won't let anything happen to Tyler."

"Yeah," Chuck whispered in reply as he and Sarah made their own way to their seats, fingers entwined, holding onto every bit of strength each other had.

Five and a half hours later they landed; it was four-thirty and they had half an hour worth of tense waiting to do before the 'handover' was set to begin.

Chuck, Sarah and Mary all stood next to the plane on the tarmac, faces stoic, not showing the anxiety that was wracking their bodies. Casey and Verbanski scoped out a nearby hangar, while Bryce went off to play his part in the plan. They all knew that they would use a third party to organise the handover, so it was up to Bryce to flush their man out, while they all worked to keep Tyler safe from harm.

Chuck checked his watched. Five o'clock. Sarah squeezed his hand and he looked up. Two Agent Smith-like men in black suits and trench coats and signature aviators, were moving towards them, Tyler in the middle. He was still wearing his pyjamas from two nights ago, but from what Sarah could see, he wasn't hurt in anyway. She let out a small sigh of relief and smiled when her son caught sight of her. Tyler started to run towards them, but the man in front caught a hold of his shoulder and quickly yanked him back, pulling him into line with them as they stood a little less than ten yards away from the Bartowskis.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Chuck asked.

"We have orders not to hand over the boy until Frost is safely in our custody," the first Smith clone replied.

"See, that just doesn't fly with me. How about we swap at the same time?"

The men looked at each other before the second Smith clone replied, "That is acceptable."

Chuck clapped his hands, "Brilliant. On three then. One… two… three." The men let Tyler go and he ran straight into the arms of his waiting mother. Frost, on the other hand meandered her way over to the men; they handcuffed her and turned to leave.

Sarah bent down and whispered to her son, "I need you to close your eyes for a minute, little man." She pulled him close to her body as she twisted her body around and looked straight at the plane, hearing two thuds when the men dropped dead.

"Nice shot, Casey," Chuck spoke into comm. Mary made her way back over to Chuck and he undid her handcuffs. "Let's hope Bryce can fulfill his end of the deal," he looked at his mother and continued, "Can you get Ty into the plane? We need to finish up here before we can go home."

"Sure, son. Good luck." Mary untangled Tyler from his mother's arms and led him onto the plane.

Pulling Sarah in for a quick kiss, Chuck told her, "We're going to get this son of a bitch, once and for all. I promise."

* * *

><p>When they, along with Casey and Verbanski, reached the rendezvous point, Bryce was already there waiting for them, along with the man they were looking for, already in cuffs and looking a little worse for wear.<p>

"Daniel Shaw, fancy meeting you here," Chuck said glibly.

"Chuck Bartowski, I see you've finally grown a pair and manned up."

Casey backhanded him across the face, splitting his lip open, "That's enough out of you, Shaw."

Shaw spat out the blood that started to fill his mouth. "Go to hell."

Drawing his tranquiliser gun, Chuck shot him twice in the chest and watched as the man dropped to the ground. "There was no way I was getting on a six hour flight with that man without him being unconscious."

* * *

><p>When the team returned back to California, Casey, Verbanski and Bryce took Shaw down to Castle and placed him in one of the more heavily fortified cells. There was no way they were going to let him escape again.<p>

Back at Casa Bartowski, Chuck carried a sleeping Tyler into the house as Sarah locked up after them.

"Is it weird that I want him in with us tonight?" Sarah whispered.

Chuck smiled, "No, not weird at all. Come on."

Tyler stirred only slightly when Chuck placed him in the middle of the bed, before curling up into the pillow. Taking turns in the bathroom to get ready for bed, they were both glad that they had the foresight to clean Tyler up midflight. Slipping into bed, either side of their son, Chuck and Sarah reached for each other's hands and placed them on top of Tyler.

"I love you, Sarah," he whispered.

"Love you, too." She sighed quietly and let a stray tear slip down her cheek. "We could have lost him, Chuck."

"But we didn't." He rubbed his wife's arm soothingly. "He's home safe with us now."

"I know. We will have to explain it to him, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, we will. He's tough; he's like his mom like that."

Sarah chuckled softly. "Doesn't seem like it today."

"We'll get through this, Sarah. I promise."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I know it fixed itself easily, but it's after midnight and I'm trying to finish this for you all. So please, as always, please let me know what you thought. I love getting all your feedback. I hope you enjoyed the last couple 'plotted' chapters. <strong>

**Some of the next chapters will include the Awesomes as well as some of the crazy Buy More antics, and maybe even some insight into the Casey/Verbanski situation. I also have other fics that I need to finish, so I apologise in advance if this one gets neglected for a little bit. **


	8. She's Everything  Verse 1

**A few years ago I read a Daniel/Vala **_**Stargate **_**fic written by **DannysgGirlSG1** to this song and I loved it. I figured I'd give it a crack for Chuck and Sarah. Enjoy!**

**Toes in the Sand** – _Chapter 8_

_She's a yellow pair of running shoes_

"What do you think, Chuck? Do they suit me?"

Sarah had dragged her husband out shopping for the day. She needed new workout gear, as her 'old' clothes no longer fitted her. Being four months pregnant with her second baby meant that her stomach seemed to _pop_ earlier than it did with her first. So to go with her new clothes, she wanted new shoes. Normally she would have brought Ellie with her, but Devon had taken her and the kids to Connecticut to visit his parents for a few days.

Chuck leaned against a shoe rack and watched as his wife stood to model the canary yellow running shoes. Not really paying attention to what she was showing him, he strained a smile, and told her nonchalantly, "They look great, honey."

Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at him, Sarah told him, "You're just saying that."

"Oh no, no you don't." Chuck stood from his leaning position and walked towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, "Those shoes are awesome, Sarah. And I'm not just saying that." He leant down and kissed the tip of her nose and added, "Morgan would be proud of those shoes."

Sarah chuckled and wrapped her arms around his waist. "So you think I should get them?"

He pulled away from her and held her at arms length to look down at the shoes she had on. "Definitely. And just think, with that colour, who needs a high vis. vest when you jog at night?"

"Shut up," she replied before slapping him lightly on the chest. "And just for that comment, I'm getting you a pair in the orange."

Chuck groaned. It was going to be a long day shopping.

_A holey pair of jeans_

Sarah had a favourite pair of jeans that she only ever wore around the house. She called them her 'lazy day' pair. They were so worn in that there were holes just above the knees and the bottom of the legs were so frayed and scuffed that she had crudely hacked off the hem with one of her knives. Chuck knew that whenever she came out of the bedroom wearing them, they were in for an awesome day. Those days included a movie or television show marathon, popcorn, take-out dinner and a whole lot of snuggling on the couch.

Those were the best days.

They got even better when the kids joined in. Nothing beat family lazy days.

_She looks great in cheap sunglasses_

_She looks great in anything_

Alex had organised an 80's themed party and Chuck was itching to go. He had the coolest costume in mind and wanted to show it off; Sarah, on the other hand was reluctant to go.

"I don't know what to wear?" she complained as she fell back onto the couch, resting her head on Chuck's chest.

Chuck thought for a moment before answering her, "Why don't you go as Cyndi Lauper? You can just go crazy that way."

"Who?"

Chuck rolled his eyes; his pop culture education of his wife hadn't gotten as far as Cyndi yet. He pulled his laptop up onto his legs and made his way to YouTube. He instantly found what he was looking for. "Here." He pressed play on the video and handed the laptop to his wife. The sounds of _'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' _filled the room.

When the song finished, Sarah closed the lid and put the computer back on the coffee table. "So? What do you think?"

"It was interesting. Catchy."

"You think you could pull off being Cyndi?"

Sarah smiled, "Yeah. Thanks, babe. I think I have just the stuff as well."

The night of the party rolled around and Chuck and Sarah were the hit of the party. Chuck came as Hulk Hogan and Sarah teased her hair and added bright red streaks through it. Added to her crazy 80's hair was the gaudy, plastic jewellery, miss-matched skirt and top and a pair of green Doc Martens. On top of her head was the biggest pair of cheap sunglasses that she could find; they were hot pink and covered half her face.

"No matter how crazy you look, you're still the most beautiful woman in the room, and I'm glad I get to come home with you," Chuck told her.

"Well I'd hope so; no one else would willingly come home with me tonight."

_She's I want a piece of chocolate_

The clock ticked over to 2:18am; Sarah was lying in bed, her hands rubbing her six-month pregnant stomach. She couldn't sleep; she was hungry. She sighed.

"Chuck," she whispered. No response. She called again, this time a little louder all the while poking him.

"Huh, what?" Chuck groaned as he rolled over to face his wife. "Are you okay? Is it the baby?"

Sarah shook her head. "We're both fine."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm hungry."

Chuck sighed. He was used to this kind of thing happening. It wasn't the first time these last six months that she had woken him up to get her food of some description. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Chocolate."

"Chocolate what? Ice cream, cookies, pudding?"

"Just plain chocolate."

"Okay. I'll be back." He kissed her softly before pulling on his boxers and heading out to the kitchen.

Not five minutes later, Chuck returned to find Sarah asleep and hugging his pillow. He knew better than to wake her up, so he placed the chocolate on the table beside the bed and walked around to her side of the bed and slipped in behind her, wrapping his arm protectively around her stomach.

_Take me to a movie_

"Chuck, you need to educate me. If we're going to make people believe we're in an actual relationship, I need to be learning things."

"Um, okay, sure. What do you suggest?"

"I don't know. How about a movie? You like movies, right?"

"Uh, yeah." Chuck ran his fingers through his curly hair.

"Great. Pick me up at seven."

This 'date' was going to be hell. He hated being in a fake relationship with a woman he was starting to fall in love with. Why couldn't his life be easy?

_She's I can't find a thing to wear_

"I have nothing to wear!" Sarah cried out as she stood on front of her closet, dressed in only her underwear, staring at her clothes, willing the perfect outfit to throw itself at her.

She wanted her first 'official' date with Chuck to go flawlessly, and nothing she tried on was decent enough. He told her to dress casually. She hated that word. It left too many variables open when it came to choices. Did she wear jeans? Or a simple dress? Hair up? Or hair down? Heels or flats?

Sarah closed her eyes and took a deep breath. _You can do this, _she told herself. When she opened her eyes, she pulled out the first thing she saw; it was a light yellow summer dress with shoestring straps. Coupled with a pair of comfortable ballet flats she felt amazing. She knew Chuck loved it when she went all 'girl next door'. Tonight was going to be perfect.

_Now and then she's moody_

Sarah threw a flurry of kicks and punches at the bag in front of her. It was cathartic. Chuck had pissed her off and now she was venting; to be honest, she couldn't even remember what he had said, but he should have known better than to push her buttons when she was feeling hormonal.

This happened often enough that Sarah knew exactly how the rest of the day would go. As she continued her workout, she listed the order of events: 1) Continue workout, 2) after a good few hours Chuck would come looking for her, 3) he would apologise profusely, 4) she would ignore him, 5) Chuck would become insistent that she forgive him and would say something funny, 6) she would futilely try to hide her laugh and then forgive him, 7) forgiveness would lead to a heavy make-out session in the middle of the room, 8) the make-out session would move to the showers and 9) all would be right in the world of Chuck and Sarah.

Despite still being in a mood, Sarah smiled to herself. She loved that she and Chuck were predictable in their relationship. The mundaneness is what she looked forward to the most in her crazy and hectic life.

_End Verse One_

**The song is **_**'She's Everything' **_**by Brad Paisley. Each chapter will be a verse from the song until it's finished. So that means you'll get four more chapters like this. Hope you like it. **

**Don't forget to review and let me know what you think. **


	9. She's Everything Verse 2

**So there seemed to be a little bit of confusion with the last chapter; I'll explain. Each line of this song is a snapshot in time. It can be set whenever and wherever; there is no specific period. Just to clear that up. Thanks for all your continued support of this little fic. **

**Also, I apologise for the wait on the chapter; I've been away on holidays and I have been crazy busy doing stuff. I went to the 3****rd**** and 4****th**** days of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG and it was awesome fun. **

**And now for this chapter. Rated T for the end snippet.**

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand<strong>** – **_**Chapter 10**_

_She's a Saturn with a sunroof_

Sarah didn't have much luck with cars; her Porsche got blown up and her Lexus was written off after one of their marks took to it with a machine gun. Her latest car was a little less sporty, and a lot more practical; it was a semi-family car. With Tyler growing they needed a car with four doors; climbing through to the backseat to put him in and out all the time was a massive hassle.

After many arguments, Sarah finally acquiesced to getting the car that Chuck wanted… but she still got her sunroof. She loved the feeling of the sun on her back and the wind in her hair.

_With her brown hair a-blowing_

Sarah stood in the entryway to Castle, effect smoke billowing around her legs and her hair flowing freely. Chuck looked up from his computer screen and was dumbfounded; she was wearing her new Comic Con costume.

Sauntering down the stairs, Sarah wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders as he continued to flounder.

"Surprise," she whispered in his ear. "Do you like it?"

Chuck spun around to face his wife, "Like it? I love it! You look exactly like her; it's uncanny."

Pulling away from Chuck, Sarah did a slow twirl, showing off her costume.

"You're lucky I love you, Chuck. I don't dye my hair for just anybody, let alone for nerd convention," she chuckled.

"I am the luckiest guy in the world. I get to sleep with the real Miranda Lawson, and not just some videogame." Chuck ran his hands up and down her white body suit as he pulled her in for a soft kiss.

_She's a soft place to land_

It had been a long day, and with their team being a member down due to Sarah being on maternity leave, everyone had to step it up a notch. By the time Chuck trudged home it was close to midnight. Quietly, he opened the door, trying desperately not to wake Caboose. He knew if that happened, the rest of the house would awaken due to the dog's incessant barking. Not seeing the dog anywhere in the lounge, Chuck tiptoed down the hall to his son's room. Peeking through the crack in the door, he saw that it was empty too. Suddenly, Chuck's heart rate shot up and he could practically hear the thumping in his chest. Walking further down towards his and Sarah's room, he softly stepped inside and his heart stopped at the sight before him. There, in the bed was his heavily pregnant wife curled up in the middle with her arms wrapped around Tyler; Caboose was at their feet, sleeping soundly.

Silently, Chuck retrieved his pyjamas before heading to the bathroom for a quick shower. When he was done he slipped back into the bedroom, the sight before him warmed him from the inside; it was as if Sarah could feel Chuck's presence and moved over slightly so that he could get in with them. And that's what he did. Coming home to his wife and child(ren) made everything better.

_And a good feeling knowing_

_She's a warm conversation_

_That I wouldn't miss for nothing_

The thing Chuck loved the most about Sarah was that she would always listen to him. She was the first woman to really take an interest in him and what he liked. Even during their first 'date', back when he didn't know she was a spy, Sarah seemed genuinely interested. Although, he mused, it was probably due to her spy training.

As their relationship progressed through the years, Chuck and Sarah never stopped talking. She was the first person he talked to when he got up and the last person he talked to at night. Even if they were fighting, they would never miss saying good night or good morning. They were friends before they were lovers; their relationship was solid.

_She's a fighter when she's mad_

Sarah always did her best fighting when she was surrounded. In one hand she held a metal rod, about a foot long and in the other she had a piece of rope; she felt sorry for the five guys in suits that were trying to kill her. Casey and Chuck were tied up back-to-back in the corner of the warehouse, watching the scene unfold. The first guy charged towards her, hoping to unnerve her; Sarah stood her ground and spun around him before hitting him in the ribs with the rod. The man doubled over with pain and Sarah took the opportunity to crouch and sweep his legs from underneath him. With a final punch to the head, he was out cold. Sarah stood up and effectively dared the other four men to attack.

The men circled Sarah and two of them came rushing at her. Sarah whipped the rope out like a lasso and caught one of them around the neck. She pulled him towards her and elbowed him in the head, knocking him unconscious. The second man came around behind her and caught her in a headlock. Sarah struggled momentarily before kicking her leg back and getting him in the crotch. The man let Sarah go as he crumpled to the floor. Three down, two to go.

"You give up yet?" she asked the remaining two. "I'd hate to take your man cards as well."

The two men looked at each other and then at their companions on the ground. Quickly, they ran over to pick up their fallen before rushing out of the warehouse, leaving Sarah to free her own teammates.

"Good choice," she yelled at them as they scurried away. "What would you do without me?" she asked to her boys as she released them from their restraints.

Casey grunted; he hated it when Sarah had to come and rescue him.

_And she's a lover when she's loving_

It was Chuck's birthday and it was the first time they were going to spend it together as a couple. Sarah wanted it to be the best birthday he has had in a very long time. She had planned the whole day. First it was breakfast in bed, which she cooked herself; eggs, bacon, toast, link sausages, hash browns and sautéed mushrooms. A breakfast fit for a king. After everyone had given him their presents Sarah took him for a walk along the beach, followed by a picnic lunch at an isolated spot they had found on one of their days off.

When they had finished with lunch, Sarah let him go off and play videogames with Morgan, as per their agreement when Sarah had asked for his help in organising the day. This left enough time for her to cook a romantic dinner for just the two of them.

Seven o'clock rolled around and Chuck entered his house to the most beautiful sight; Sarah was standing with her back towards him wearing his favourite little black dress. It fell just above her knees and the tiny spaghetti straps showed off her back and shoulders.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here," she said as she turned around and handed him a glass of red wine. "Happy birthday, Chuck." Sarah kissed him softly before heading into the kitchen. Chuck followed her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly along her shoulder and up the side of her neck. Sarah moaned. "God, Chuck, if you keep that up, we'll be having dinner after dessert."

"And there's a problem with that?" he whispered hotly in her ear before nipping at it.

Sarah twisted in his arms. "No, no problem at all," she replied as she captured his lips with her own.

"Good. How 'bout you turn it all off so that I can take this off," Chuck told her as he fiddled with the hem of her dress and hiking it up to her waist and finding her clad in only a barely-there thong.

Pulling away from Chuck, Sarah turned off the hotplates and oven and headed down to Chuck's bedroom, dragging her boyfriend with her. She pushed him onto the bed and straddled his hips. Leaning down, she pulled his shirt up and off his body, throwing it to the side. Sarah kissed him softly from his naval all the way to the hollow of his neck, loving the feeling as he shuddered in pleasure. Chuck's hands ran up and down Sarah's body, underneath her dress; his fingers brushed the underside of her breasts as he kissed her passionately.

"As much as I love this dress, you need to come out of it," he told her when they broke apart. Chuck started pulling the dress up, but Sarah pulled back.

"Let me." Sarah crawled off the bed and shimmied out of the dress before slinking back into her boyfriend's arms, naked except for her thong. "It's all about you tonight, Chuck. Let me take care of you."

Chuck leaned back and groaned as Sarah continued her ministrations. "I love it when you take control."

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><p><strong>I'm sick at the moment so I did what I could. I'm not a huge fan of the first part but I couldn't think of anything else to write. Oh and if you've never seen what Miranda Lawson looks like, Google her.<strong>

**Don't forget to review; your comments make my day. And if you have suggestions for a scene let me know and I'll try to incorporate it. **


	10. She's Everything Verse 3

**I so did not think I would be able to get out ten chapters of this fic. Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and/or favourited this little story of mine. After this verse, there are two more to go, but I'll probably keep it as incomplete and keep adding to it when I can. **

**And I'm sorry this has taken so long to be updated. Life keeps getting in the way. Uni starts back up next week, but I have quite a bit of time during classes so I may be able to do a bit of writing in between. **

**And remember, the timeline jumps around a fair bit. Sorry if it gets confusing, I'll try and indicate where it is in the stream of things within the first couple sentences. Also, there were a couple lines that I couldn't make fit with Sarah's character, so I deleted them.**

**EDIT: Thanks goes to Coreymon77 who pointed out a few mistakes I made. I feel terrible. You are my lifesaver. **

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand-<strong> Chapter 10

_And she's everything I ever wanted  
><em>_And everything I need  
><em>_I talk about her; I go on and on and on  
><em>_'Cause she's everything to me  
><em>

Chuck watched his fiancé walk down the aisle towards him, her white gown flowing behind her. This was it; he was going to marry the woman of his dreams, the woman who completed him. Holding Sarah's gaze, Chuck poured out every emotion, hoping that she could feel how he was feeling. When she smiled at him, he could feel the warmth and happiness emanating from her. Chuck knew; Sarah knew; they were in this together, forever.

Then came the moment they had been waiting for; "And by the power vested in me by the Intergalactic Federation of Planets, I now pronounce you husband and wife." Morgan turned to Chuck and grinned, "You may now kiss your bride."

Needing no more encouragement, Chuck pulled his new wife in for a passionate kiss, dipping her as it intensified. This was officially the first day of the rest of their lives.

_She's a Saturday out on the town  
><em>

The C.A.T Squad was back in town and up to no good. It was Sarah's thirtieth birthday and Carina and Zondra wanted to say goodbye to Sarah's twenties with a bang… literally. 'Lock up your husbands, lock up your sons, lock up your whisky cabinets; girls lock up your guns' is how the song starts. Nothing was sacred when these three women occupied the same room at the one time.

When Sarah woke up the next morning, hung over (or still slightly drunk) and miserable, she groaned, "This was worse than my engagement party."

Chuck grinned as he laid a mug of green tea and headache pills on the table next to her. "And what, pray tell, did your night consist of this time?"

Sarah rubbed her head, trying to recall the previous evening, "I don't know but there was a lot of tequila and champagne, and maybe a helicopter. I can't remember."

"Good night then?"

"Oh yeah." Sarah took a mouthful of her tea as she swallowed the pills. Looking up at her husband, she smiled, "Thanks for taking care of me, Chuck."

"Nowhere I'd rather be." He leant down and kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep, you'll feel better later."

_And a cuss word 'cause it's Monday  
><em>

Sarah hated Mondays; she didn't know why. As a spy, her workweek wasn't the normal Monday to Friday, nine to five. However, when Monday inevitably rolled around every week, she couldn't help but think, _'Shit, not again.'_

Monday's coffee was bitter, Tuesday's was not as bad, Wednesday's was palatable, Thursday's was good and Friday's was the best. She couldn't explain it; it was just the way the world worked. No one likes Mondays.

_She's a bubble bath and candles  
><em>

It was their fifth anniversary and Chuck wanted to do something special for his wife. Tyler had picked up the chicken pox, from Morgan of all people, and she spent the previous two weeks battling her son and his infection. Days and nights were spent washing him in oatmeal baths, lathering him in calamine lotion and fighting off the fever that seemed to accompany it. Her poor little man was sick, and she hated seeing him like that, and all he wanted was his Mommy. Finally after almost a week and a half of a nursing an ill toddler, Sarah was able to finally take a breath. He was on the mend and finally allowed his father to hold him.

At five o'clock on the night of their anniversary, Sarah was fast asleep and curled up on the couch. Seeing how exhausted his wife was, Chuck had come up with a plan and it involved Morgan and Alex babysit Tyler for the night. Step One: Chuck hightailed it over to his best friend and dropped off his son for the night. Step two: This part consisted of a hot bath filled with bubbles surrounded by vanilla scented candles. Step Three: A large glass of red wine to enjoy while relaxing.

Chuck knelt down next to his wife and tenderly stroked her cheek, whispering, "Happy anniversary, sweetheart."

Sarah's eyes slowly fluttered open and blue eyes met brown. "Hey," she whispered back, her voice heady with sleep. "How long was I out?"

"Not long. I have a surprise for you."

"Really? Is it more sleep?"

Chuck laughed, "Not yet, but I promise you'll enjoy it." He stood up from the ground and held out his hand. "Come on."

Sarah took his hand and followed him into the bathroom and gasped softly as she saw it illuminated only by candles. Turning to face him, she kissed him, pouring her thanks into it.

"You want to get in?"

Sarah nodded, "You first. I think I'm in need of you wrapped around me tonight."

"As you wish," he replied, throwing his wife a subtle wink.

_Baby come and kiss me  
><em>

They were finally together, and what better place to celebrate their 'togetherness' than a romantic train ride through the countryside of France. Chuck sat on the bed, propped up against one of the pillows in just his blue boxer shorts and white t-shirt, waiting for Sarah to make her way out of the tiny bathroom. He had forgotten how long it took for women to 'slip into something more comfortable' and resorted to intently examining his fingernails as he waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sarah slid open the bathroom door and came to a stop at the foot of the bed. Chuck's eyes glazed over as he drank in the sight of his new girlfriend, the scraps of black, lacy fabric barely covering her modesty.

"Wow!" Chuck sucked in a breath, still in awe that she actually chose him. "Are you sure I don't have to share you?"

Sarah smirked and said nothing in reply as she slowly crawled along the bed until she sat, straddling his lap. Framing his face with her hands, Sarah pulled him in for a tender kiss.

"I'm all yours, Chuck; now what are you going to do about it?"

_She's a one glass of wine  
><em>_And she's feeling kinda tipsy  
><em>

Sarah slipped into the bath; Chuck's arms and the bubbles surrounded her. She could almost feel the exhaustion and stress of the last two weeks pour out of her body.

"This is amazing. Thank you Chuck." She reached out and took a sip of her wine, allowing her body to sink further into her husband's and the water.

Chuck could feel his wife visibly relax as he dragged his fingers up and down her arm. "I'm sorry our original plans never worked out."

"Not your fault. Kids get sick, there's nothing you can do about it. This, however, is a perfect Plan B." Sarah took another sip of her wine, "Cabo will still be there next year."

The couple sat in comfortable silence for about an hour, until the water had started going cold. By then, Sarah had finished her glass of wine and was starting to feel the effects. As she stood to get out of the bath, she lost her balance slightly, forcing Chuck, who had already donned his robe, to dash his hand out to hold her steady.

"You okay there, Sarah?" he asked, concern laced in his voice.

Sarah nodded and stepped out of the bath gingerly, "Yeah, I just haven't eaten anything since breakfast and the wine caught up with me."

Chuck wrapped his wife in her robe before directing her to the bedroom.

"How about I go and make us some grilled cheese sandwiches because I think it's about time we both had an early night?" he suggested.

"Sounds like the best plan ever," she replied as she pulled on her most comfortable pyjamas and crawled into bed.

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><p><em><strong>End Chorus and Verse 3<strong>_

**So, what did you think? ****I hope you enjoyed it. ****Your reviews make me happy. **

**The third last and last line of the verse were the same story, I just split them up to work with the verse. **

**Oh, and Marie, I hope you read this in class… I told you I'm a bad influence on you. **


	11. She's Everything Verse 4

**This chapter is for **_**Coreymon77 **_**who, as punishment, made me write the fluffiest chapter I could come up with. This is that chapter. I hope it's fluffy enough. The punishment was because I'm a bad Chuck fan and forgot details about Chuck and Sarah's wedding. I can't believe I did that. Bad Sam.**

**And I'm really sorry about the delay on this chapter. My normal 13 week semester at uni was squished into 9 because of prac and so I got completely hammered by assignments. Not awesome.**

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand – <strong>_Chapter 11_

_She's the giver I wish I could be_

Sarah sat at the kitchen table with Tyler on her left and Eloise on the right, helping both of them with their respective homework. Chuck stood in the doorway watching them silently. Eloise was working on her first grade spelling whereas Tyler was struggling with his junior high math and Sarah was switching effortlessly between her two children.

After watching the scene for a few minutes, Chuck came into the kitchen, kissing each of his family on the head before sitting down with them. He looked over Eloise's shoulder to see what she was doing.

"There's some big words in there Little One. 'Because' that's a tough one."

Two bright blue eyes looked back up at him. "You're silly, daddy. 'Because' is easy to spell. See. B.E.C.A.U.S.E."

"You're just too smart, Ella," he told his daughter.

"Mommy helped me. She's really smart, too."

Chuck glanced up at his wife, as she continued on explaining a complex problem to Tyler, and smiled. "Yeah, she is, isn't she?"

"She's the best Mommy ever," Eloise exclaimed.

_And the stealer of the covers_

It was an unusually cold winter's morning; the sun started filtering through the curtains. Chuck had curled up tightly into the fetal position sometime during the night, and was left with barely a sheet covering him. Feeling the light on his face, Chuck cracked open one eye to find out the time 6:02am… too early. He shivered in the frosty temperature of the room and rolled over to where his wife was snuggled securely under layers of blankets.

Shaking her lightly, Chuck tried to reclaim some of the warmth for himself. Sarah didn't budge from her spot, so Chuck turned to desperate measures. He found a small hole at the near Sarah's feet and worked his own, cold feet inside, hoping it would startle her awake. And awaken her he did.

Sarah sat up quickly, clutching the blankets to her chest, breathing heavily. "What the hell, Chuck?"

Chuck slowly moved to a seated position and looked sleepily at his irate wife and shrugged. "I was cold, and you were hogging the covers."

Sarah huffed in annoyance. "You could have woken me nicely."

"I tried. You weren't budging. I'm sorry."

Sarah slid back down and curled back into the warmth, before murmuring, "If you want to keep warm, you need to come closer."

Grinning, Chuck pulled the blanket over himself and wrapped himself around his wife, knowing this was the best way to keep warm. This was definitely Chuck's favourite time of day; it was full of promise.

_She's a picture in my wallet_

Chuck sat forlornly at the bar, nursing his almost untouched drink. It was Christmas Eve and he was snowed-in at an airport, hoping and praying that he will make it in time to see his kids open their presents the next morning.

"Is this seat taken?" a woman's voice next to him spoke.

Chuck looked up and motioned to the space next to him. "It's all yours."

"I'm Amy." The woman held out her hand in introduction. Chuck smiled softly and took the offered hand.

"Chuck." He took a sip of his drink before he turned his gaze to the muted television playing some sort of sport.

The blonde woman ordered a glass of wine before turning her attention back to Chuck. "So what brings you here on Christmas Eve?"

Chuck sighed, "Waiting and hoping to fly home. You?"

"The same. I've been on writing assignment for three months and I'm trying to surprise my parents for Christmas."

"Nice surprise for them." Chuck finished his beer and motioned to the bar tender for another.

"Yeah, if I can get there. The snow storm is sort of delaying my trip a bit." Amy took a sip of her wine, "So what about you, Chuck, who are you on your way home to?"

A smile spread across Chuck's face as he thought about his family that was at home waiting for him. He quickly pulled out his wallet and opened it for Amy to see the photo that was pride of place inside.

"My wife, Sarah and our two kids. Tyler is eight-and-a-half and the baby is Eloise. She'll be celebrating her first Christmas tomorrow."

"Your children are adorable. I can see why you're anxious to get home."

Chuck ran his finger over the photo. "Yeah. I really don't want to miss it."

The airport PA went off over the comfortable silence between the two as it called flights that were ready to board. Amy finished off her drink and slid off her chair, "They just called my flight. Good luck in getting home, Chuck."

"Thanks, Amy. It was nice to meet you; good luck with your work."

Amy gave a little smile and wave as she left the bar, leaving Chuck to wait for his flight to be called… if it was going to be called.

_And my unborn children's mother_

From the moment Chuck laid eyes on Sarah, he knew she was the one. The one whom he would spend his life with, and the one whom he would have children with. Sarah was the very personification of Vicki Vale… the one based off Marilyn Monroe in the 1949 comic, not Kim Bassinger… not that he would ever tell her that.

"I'm not sure if I'm able to receive calls," she told him as she brushed her long, blonde hair behind her ear. "Because I never got one from you."

It was such a cheesy pick-up line, and Sarah looked completely sweet and innocent and Chuck was a goner. He never thought a girl like her ever be interested in a nerd like him.

Chuck thought back as he perused engagement rings at a local jeweller. Their meeting was orchestrated by the government, their 'first date' was a rouse, as was their on-and-off 'relationship' for a couple of years, until he laid it all out and asked her point blank if she loved him. Luckily, it all worked out, and he was about to propose. She was it for him. She was his everything.

_She's the hand that I'm holding_

"That's it, Sarah. You're doing really well. Just remember your breathing exercises." Chuck soothed his wife, wishing that they could swap positions.

Sarah let out a strangled cry as she continued to push through her contractions. She turned to Chuck. "You're never touching me again, you hear me."

The nurses and midwife sniggered quietly to themselves as Chuck nodded. "Sure, honey. Whatever you say," he replied while brushing her hair off her dampened forehead.

The midwife looked up at the couple, "Just two more pushes, Sarah, and you can meet your son."

Sarah blindly grabbed for Chuck's hand as another contraction ripped through her and squeezed it tightly. Yelping in a mixture of pain and surprise, Chuck glared at his wife. "If I'm in pain, you have to be as well," she sobbed.

Half an hour later later, Sarah sat up in the uncomfortable hospital bed cuddling a little blue bundle, with Chuck sitting at her bedside; both were enraptured by their new baby boy.

"Welcome to the world, Tyler Charles Bartowski," Sarah whispered as she bent her head to softly kiss her son on the cheek. "Your daddy and I love you so much."

Chuck reached up to entwine their hands. "Thank you, Sarah."

Sarah smiled, "No, Chuck, I should be thanking you. You saved me and gave me a life."

"He's thanks enough. I couldn't think of anything else that could be any better."

_When I'm on my knees and praying_

_She's the answer to my prayer_

It was touch and go; they didn't know if Sarah was going to survive. When Vivian Volkoff attacked Sarah during their engagement party, Chuck didn't know what to do. He had just gotten her back, and it looked like he was going to lose her again – permanently.

Sarah was in intensive care, under the watchful eye of his sister, Ellie and Chuck was at a loss. He meandered his way around the hospital, trying to come up with a plan to save his fiancé and to keep the negative thoughts from entering his mind. Neither of which were working.

Chuck stumbled into the hospital chapel and sat down in the front pew. Taking a deep breath, Chuck started to speak. "Um, I'm not sure what to really do here, but if you're out there somewhere, can you do me a favour and save Sarah's life? I'm a firm believer in finding your own way, but in this one, I need a little help." He paused and wiped the tears the fell from his eyes.

"She means everything to me; I can't live without her. I know we both have a long way to go if we want some sort of salvation, but I just need to know that someone is looking out for us. So please, help me save her life; we all need a bit of happiness in our lives, and she is it for me."

Chuck stood silently and walked slowly back towards intensive care, hoping and praying that Sarah would come out of this unscathed. After all, they had a wedding to attend.

_And she's the song that I'm playing_

It was date night and it was Chuck's turn to decide where they were going. Ellie and Devon were in town for a few days and he figured a double date was in order. The two couples rarely got to catch up without the children in tow.

Deciding to employ the babysitting services of Morgan and Alex for the night, Bartowskis and Woodcombes set out for the evening. The two women were stunning, both in cocktail dresses that they apparently pulled out from the back of Sarah's closet.

Dinner was a quiet affair, so they all decided to head out and do something a little more fun. The two couples made their way to a karaoke bar; Sarah and Ellie went to grab a booth, while the boys ordered their drinks.

"So how 'bout it, Captain, you gonna sing tonight?" Chuck asked his brother –in-law.

"Oh, I don't know, Chuck. I am a man of many talents, but singing is not one of them."

Chuck patted Devon on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll show you how it's done."

Devon laughed heartily. "Awesome."

When the drinks arrived, the boys headed over to where their better halves were seated and handed them their beverages. Chuck sidled up to his wife and laced their fingers together before kissing her softly on the cheek.

"You want to sing a duet with me?" he asked her sweetly.

Sarah looked at her husband incredulously. "Are you serious? Chuck, you know I'd rather face a gang of terrorists than sing in public."

He shrugged his shoulders, "Ok, guess it's all on me then." Chuck got up and headed over to where the emcee was organising the songs for the participants. After speaking to him for a few minutes, Chuck headed back to the table.

"I'll be up in three songs time."

The four of them bopped along to the songs being played and laughed mockingly at the people trying to sing them, waiting for Chuck to be called up. When it was his turn, he kissed Sarah softly before whispering, "This is for you."

The country tune kicked in and Chuck began to sing.

Girl, I been thinkin' 'bout us

And you know I ain't good at this stuff

These feelings pilin' up won't give me no rest

This might come out a little crazy

A little sideways, yeah maybe

I don't know how long it'll take me but I'll do my best

You'll be my soft and sweet

I'll be your strong and steady

You'll be my glass of wine

I'll be your shot of whiskey

You'll be my sunny day

I'll be your shade tree

You'll be my honeysuckle

I'll be your honey bee

Yeah, that came out a little country

But every word was right on the money

And I got you smilin' honey right back at me

Now hold on 'cause I ain't done

There's more where that came from

Well you know I'm just havin' fun, but seriously

If you'll be my Louisiana

I'll be your Mississippi

You'll be my Little Loretta

I'll be your Conway Twitty

You'll be my sugar, baby

I'll be your sweet iced tea

You'll be my honeysuckle

I'll be your honey bee

Your kiss just said it all

I'm glad we had this talk

Nothing left to do but fall in each other's arms

I coulda said, "I love you"

Coulda wrote you a line or two

Baby, all I know to do is speak right from the heart

If you'll be my soft and sweet

I'll be your strong and steady

You'll be my glass of wine

I'll be your shot of whiskey

You'll be my sunny day

I'll be your shade tree

You'll be my honeysuckle

I'll be your honey bee

You'll be my Louisiana

I'll be your Mississippi

You'll be my Little Loretta

I'll be your Conway Twitty

You'll be my sugar, baby

I'll be your sweet iced tea

You'll be my honeysuckle

And I'll be your honey bee

I'll be your honey bee

Sarah sat through the entire song entranced by the sweetness in her husband's voice and the sincerity he sung it with. When he finished, she slid out of the booth and made her way over to where he was standing on the stage, lapping up the applause from the crowd that had gathered. Catching sight of her, Chuck jumped down and pulled Sarah into his arms.

"I love you," she told him before capturing his lips with her own, kissing him passionately and ignoring the hoots and catcalls coming from the crowd.

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><p><strong>TaDa! I hope you all enjoyed it. Feel free to let me know what you thought. Hopefully it was fluffy enough.<strong>

**I'm thinking when I've finished writing bits for this song I will continue on with the **_**'she's a picture in my wallet', **_**I think it needs closure. What do you all think? **

**Fringe fans…did you pick up my little homage to the awesome show? I just had to. It makes me feel many feels. **

**Oh and the last song was 'Honey Bee' by Blake Shelton. I love that song. And it's such a cool film clip too. **


	12. She's Everything Verse 5

**Well here is the last verse of this song and just a short chapter… but don't fret, I'm continuing this collection just a little while longer. I have plans for at least two more chapters after this one. Thanks to everyone that has read this story; none of my other ones have gotten this much attention, it's all rather humbling. So thank you all again. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know.**

**I also think this is the quickest update ever. Take it as an apology for not updating much lately. **

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand - <strong>_Chapter 12_

_She's the voice I love to hear_

The phone in Chuck's pocket started ringing. Dragging his suitcase along behind him and a carry bag in the other, he fumbled around trying to get at the offending piece of technology before the person on the other side hung up. He dropped his bags on the ground and quickly answered it, not stopping to see who was calling.

"Hello."

"Chuck? Where are you?" Worry laced Sarah's voice.

He paused. "Oh, hey Sarah. I was just about to call you. There was a snow storm a couple hours ago and all the flights have been delayed or cancelled?"

"Tell me you're joking, Chuck?" The worry now replaced by despair.

Chuck frowned, "I'm sorry. I'm trying to find a flight out, but I'm not having much luck."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I'll let you know. I was just about to get a bite to eat and a drink before checking again." He let out a small laugh; "I think they're getting sick of me at the check-in desk."

A silence fell between the couple.

"I miss you, Sarah. And the kids."

He could hear her smile over the phone. "I miss you, too. Tyler asks about you all day and Ella is growing so much."

"I'm gonna be there, Sarah. I won't miss Christmas," he choked out.

"I know. Let me know if I can do anything from my end."

Chuck nodded. "Just wait for me, Sarah. I'll be there."

After hanging up with his wife, Chuck found the nearest bar and ordered a drink, hoping for a miracle.

_Someday when I'm ninety_

_She's that wooden rocking chair_

_I want rocking right beside me_

Sixty years. A whole lifetime spent together. There have been children, grandchildren and even a few great-grandchildren. There have been ups and downs, but their lives have been melded into one.

The couple sat on their front porch, looking out at the sunset over Santa Monica. This was their life now. No more gun fights, no more CIA, just them, living out what's left of their happy and contented lives. This was their forever.

_Everyday that passes_

_I only love her more_

Every day when he rolls over and comes face-to-face with the woman of his dreams, he has to pinch himself. She's real and she's there. With him. Every day he learns something new about her, and every day his heart expands with love for her.

Softly, Chuck strokes the smooth skin of her cheek and watches her breathe silently. Sarah's eyelids flutter open and she smiles sleepily at him.

"Hi."

Chuck leans in and kisses her softly. "Hey. Sleep well?"

"The best." She curls into her husband and lays her head on his chest. "Love you."

Wrapping his arms around her tightly, Chuck replied, "Love you, too."

_Yeah, she's the one_

_That I'd lay down my own life for_

Sarah stood with her back against the wall, hands raised in the air. The suited man pointed a gun at her chest. The alleyway was dark, lit only by dim lights above the couple doors on either side.

"You don't have to do this, you know."

The man chuckled, "You know that's not true, Agent Walker. I have a job to do. You of all people ought to appreciate that."

"I do. I just thought it wouldn't hurt in trying to talk you out of killing me." Sarah paused, hearing footfalls coming from down the alley. She coked her head to the side, "That and I needed time for my backup to arrive."

The man turned his head to the left and saw a man running towards him and skidding in front of Sarah, his chest in line with the barrel of the gun.

"If you're going to shoot someone, shoot me," Chuck challenged.

"A scrawny guy like you is her backup? Well aren't you noble?" The man laughed in Chuck's face.

Chuck smirked before closing his eyes, the Flash ripping through his brain.

Opening them again, Chuck yanked the gun out of the man's hand and turning it against him.

"You were saying?" Chuck smacked him over the head with the butt of the gun and he fell to the ground with a loud thud. Leaning over the unconscious man, he said in a quiet tone, "No one ever aims a gun at her and gets away with it."

Sarah comes up behind Chuck and runs her hand up and down his spine. "Let's go home, and I'll show you just how noble you were."

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><p><strong>So there's the end of <strong>_**'She's Everything'**_**, I hoped you had fun on that journey. I know I did.**

**So as you would have noticed, the first part is a prequel to the **_**'She's a picture in my wallet' **_**part from the last chapter. I promise to get to the continuation shortly. **

**As always, feel free to review. It's always nice to hear your thoughts. **


	13. Snowed in

**So I've decided to create an ending to the two parts in the previous chapters where Chuck is stuck in the airport on Christmas Eve. The first section you would have read already, but I wanted to have the whole story all together. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Toes in the Sand – <strong>_**Chapter 13**_

The phone in Chuck's pocket started ringing. Dragging his suitcase along behind him and a carry bag in the other, he fumbled around trying to get at the offending piece of technology before the person on the other side hung up. He dropped his bags on the ground and quickly answered it, not stopping to see who was calling.

"Hello."

"Chuck? Where are you?" Worry laced Sarah's voice.

He paused. "Oh, hey Sarah. I was just about to call you. There was a snow storm a couple hours ago and all the flights have been delayed or cancelled?"

"Tell me you're joking, Chuck?" The worry now replaced by despair.

Chuck frowned, "I'm sorry. I'm trying to find a flight out, but I'm not having much luck."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I'll let you know. I was just about to get a bite to eat and a drink before checking again." He let out a small laugh; "I think they're getting sick of me at the check-in desk."

A silence fell between the couple.

"I miss you, Sarah. And the kids."

He could hear her smile over the phone. "I miss you, too. Tyler asks about you all day and Ella is growing so much."

"I'm gonna be there, Sarah. I won't miss Christmas," he choked out.

"I know. Let me know if I can do anything from my end."

Chuck nodded. "Just wait for me, Sarah. I'll be there."

After hanging up with his wife, Chuck found the nearest bar and ordered a drink, hoping for a miracle. Sitting forlornly at the bar, Chuck just stared into his almost untouched drink. It was Christmas Eve and he was snowed-in at an airport, hoping and praying that he will make it in time to see his kids open their presents the next morning.

"Is this seat taken?" a woman's voice next to him spoke.

Chuck looked up and motioned to the space next to him. "It's all yours."

"I'm Amy." The woman held out her hand in introduction. Chuck smiled softly and took the offered hand.

"Chuck." He took a sip of his drink before he turned his gaze to the muted television playing some sort of sport.

The blonde woman ordered a glass of wine before turning her attention back to Chuck. "So what brings you here on Christmas Eve?"

Chuck sighed, "Waiting and hoping to fly home. You?"

"The same. I've been on writing assignment for three months and I'm trying to surprise my parents for Christmas."

"Nice surprise for them." Chuck finished his beer and motioned to the bar tender for another.

"Yeah, if I can get there. The snow storm is sort of delaying my trip a bit." Amy took a sip of her wine, "So what about you, Chuck, who are you on your way home to?"

A smile spread across Chuck's face as he thought about his family that was at home waiting for him. He quickly pulled out his wallet and opened it for Amy to see the photo that was pride of place inside.

"My wife, Sarah and our two kids. Tyler is eight-and-a-half and the baby is Eloise. She'll be celebrating her first Christmas tomorrow."

"Your children are adorable. I can see why you're anxious to get home."

Chuck ran his finger over the photo. "Yeah. I really don't want to miss it."

The airport PA went off over the comfortable silence between the two as it called flights that were ready to board. Amy finished off her drink and slid off her chair, "They just called my flight. Good luck in getting home, Chuck."

"Thanks, Amy. It was nice to meet you; good luck with your work."

Amy gave a little smile and wave as she left the bar, leaving Chuck to wait for his flight to be called… if it was going to be called.

Chuck rested his fist on his chin and leant on the bar, running his fingers over the picture from his wallet with his other hand. Downing the rest of his beer in one gulp, Chuck threw a couple notes down next to the empty glass before he made his way back over to his assigned gate. He slumped down into one of the seats, wishing for a miracle. Chuck hoped that these kinds of miracles didn't just happen in the movies.

Pulling out his phone, Chuck decided to put in a call.

"This better be an emergency, Bartowski," came the voice on the other end.

Chuck looked at his watch, "It's barely gone eight o'clock, Casey. Don't tell me you're in bed already?"

Casey grunted in reply and Chuck heard a chair scrape along a tiled floor in the background. "I'm having dinner with Alex and the bearded moron."

"You love Morgan, he gave you those two awesome grandkids to spoil."

Another grunt.

Chuck smirked, "Anyway, the reason I'm calling is because I'm stuck here in DC and I need to get home. Most of the flights have been grounded and it's taking forever to get on a plane."

"And you need me to make a call," Casey stated without missing a beat.

"Yeah, pretty much," Chuck paused momentarily. "I need to get home to Sarah and the kids. You understand, Casey."

"Give me five minutes."

"Thank you, Casey." Chuck let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll be over for pancakes in the morning."

Chuck laughed out loud. "Not too early."

After the phone call had ended, Chuck sat up higher in his chair. He was going to make it home for Christmas.

Six minutes after the call to Casey, Chuck's phone rang.

Before Chuck could say a word, Casey's voice resonated from the other side. "Bartowski, head to the passenger pickup; Captain Tucker will take you to your ride home." And then the call ended.

In stunned silence, he followed the directions given. Pulling his coat tighter, Chuck made his way out into the frigid air. He didn't have to wait long before a signature khaki green Jeep pulled up outside the arrivals area. Quickly jumping in, Chuck stashed is bag in the back before turning to his savior.

"Captain Tucker, I presume."

The stoic Marine nodded and Chuck just continued. "I appreciate you giving me a ride."

"Just following orders, sir."

"Oookay then," Chuck breathed out, realising at that moment that it was going to be an awkwardly silent trip to their destination. Huddling into his seat, Chuck focused his thoughts on his family and how Christmas would now be complete.

Just over three and a half hours later, after taking a few detours due to the snow piled up, the Jeep pulled up at the Naval Airbase in Norfolk, Virginia. It was nearing midnight, yet Chuck jumped out of the vehicle with his bags as quick as he could and followed the Captain to the where he was headed. In the distance, surrounded by floodlights, was the _C-130 Hercules._ Chuck looked up at it in awe at the sheer size of the aircraft; the closer he got to it, his excitement grew; this was his ride home.

Captain Tucker stopped at the ramp to the _Hercules_ and turned to face Chuck and snapped to attention, giving him a salute. Chuck stood in shock and held out his hand for his savior.

"Thank you, Captain Tucker."

The officer took the offered hand and shook it firmly. "It's been an honour, sir. I hope you have a lovely Christmas with your family."

Chuck was speechless. These Marines… he should know better; they were all softies inside.

After finding his way to his seat and strapping in, Chuck put on the headphones provided; the pilot telling the rest of the passengers – which consisted of two other stoic Marines sitting opposite Chuck - they were about to depart. He was finally on his way home.

Five hours later, someone shaking Chuck startled him awake.

"Wh-what?" he slurred.

"We've landed, Agent Carmichael. Welcome to sunny California. A Colonel Casey has arrived to take you home," the man replied.

Quickly unstrapping himself, Chuck stood and thanked the man before departing the aircraft. Looking at his watch, he smiled. It had just gone eight in the morning; he could still make breakfast and surprise his family.

Chuck found Casey waiting by the exit gate leaning against his shiny Crown Vic.

"Get in, Bartowski. You've got a Christmas to make."

Grinning, he did what he was told, letting out a massive sigh of relief as he collapsed into the car seat. It was good to be home.

Half an hour later, the duo pulled up outside Casa Bartowski. The white picket fence stood proudly and the bright red door welcomed everyone to the happy home. Deciding to leave his bags in the car, Chuck was almost bouncing with anticipation and excitement.

He inserted the key into its lock and turned the handle. Opening the door, Chuck was assaulted by the warmth and comfort of his home. He could smell the pancake batter cooking; mixed in was the heavenly scent of bacon. He was home. It was Christmas.

Quietly, Chuck tiptoed into the kitchen. Standing in the doorframe, he drank in the welcoming sight of his wife.

"Something smells amazing," Chuck complimented.

Startled, Sarah dropped the spatula she was using and turned to face Chuck, a huge grin lighting up her entire face.

"You made it," she breathed.

"I made a promise." Chuck slowly made his way over to his wife, pulling her in for a soft kiss once he was close enough. Sarah made a move to deepen it when they heard someone clear their throat in the background.

The couple turned to see Casey holding a sleepy Eloise. "She woke up."

Sarah chuckled. "Chuck, could you finish breakfast while I feed this one?"

"Sure, honey."

Whistling softly to himself, Chuck turned his attention back to the stove and continued on with the cooking.

Not five minutes later a small body ran into his legs. "Daddy!" the boy yelled.

Quickly turning the stove off, Chuck picked up his son and hugged him tight. "Hey Ty, how are you?"

"Better now that you're here. I was scared that you were gonna miss Christmas."

"I would never miss it, Ty. You, mommy and Eloise are too important for me to miss this."

Tyler smiled. "Good!"

* * *

><p>The Bartowski Christmas went off without a hitch. Tyler got new clothes and awesome toys; the toys were what he was most excited for and couldn't wait to try them out.<p>

When the day was done and dusted and the children were asleep in bed, Chuck and Sarah lay cuddled together on the couch. "Thank you for keeping your promise, Chuck."

"I always do, Sarah." He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Nothing in this world could keep me from you today; not even a little bit of snow."

Sarah smiled. "Well, I'm glad. You're what make Christmas in this family. Without you, it just wouldn't have been the same."

"Works both ways. I love you and I love the family we've made. Without any of us, it'd just be another day on the calendar."

"You're right." Sarah untangled herself from Chuck's embrace and got up from the couch. Holding her hand out and gave him a saucy grin, she continued, "There's still a few hours left in the day, we should celebrate just that little bit more."

Chuck jumped up and followed Sarah eagerly. "I like how you think, Mrs. Bartowski."

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><p><strong>So what did you think? Did you like the closure I gave on those two snippets?<strong>

**Side Note: Yes, I Google Mapped distance it is to get from Dulles to Norfolk; it's 194 miles. **

**Also: I finished my first teaching prac and I completely smashed it. It went awesomely. I tell you, doing a poetry unit with year 10 students is good but you need to go through 'Jeremy' by Pearl Jam. It was legitimately my best lessons. **

**Lastly: It is only two and a half weeks until I get to meet Jeri Ryan – Seven of Nine herself. I'm so excited!**


	14. Mommy  Daughter Day

**Just a short chapter to get me kick started back into writing again.**

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><p><em><span>Chapter 14 – MommyDaughter Day_

Running after two children was hard work, even if their mother was a spy. Tyler was nearing ten years old, and her baby, little Eloise, Ella to her Daddy, just turned two. The summer holidays was always the most tiring; with both kids at home, she had to find ways to keep them both occupied, especially when Chuck was at work.

They had days spent at the beach and days just playing games inside when they were too tired to leave the house. Devon and Ellie even came down from Chicago with their own two children and spent a couple days at Disneyland.

Now, it was time for Tyler to go back to school; as much as Sarah missed her little man, she was relieved to only have Eloise at home. After having Tyler, she was able to focus solely on him and their bond was one that most other parents envied. Now, with Eloise, she had to divide her time between her two children, and it was only when Tyler was at school could she give all her attention to Eloise. The pair had their own little routine and Sarah relished the time she had to spend with her little girl.

In the morning, after Chuck had taken Tyler to school, the two would unpack the craft supplies and create, what Chuck would call, 'a masterpiece' to add to their already full art board. Their fridge was already covered in things that Tyler brought home from school, so Sarah had went and bought a two metre square corkboard just for Eloise. The two girls had fun that day decorating the frame with paints, glitter and butterfly stickers.

After craft time, Sarah would prepare a small morning snack for them, usually a fruit platter. She didn't like her children having those artificially produced and packaged snacks; they got enough of those when Morgan was on babysitting duty. The only thing good about a sugar high for children is when they crash.

Next in the routine was a walk down to the local park with Caboose; it was a dog friendly park and they could be let off the leash. At that time of the morning, not many other people were around and Eloise loved to chase after the Labrador retriever; the little girl's laughter when she played with her pet was the highlight of Sarah's day.

The walk in the park ended with a small picnic that Sarah packed, containing sandwiches and juice boxes for the girls and a pig's ear for Caboose. Eloise would chatter away to her mother throughout lunch about the things she saw in the park, and Sarah would sit there with rapt attention, occasionally throwing in a comment or two to keep her going.

The five minute walk back home from the park often turned into ten if Sarah decided to let Eloise walk, rather than put her in the stroller she always brought. Some days, the little girl would tire out and fall asleep to the rhythm of her mother's footfalls as she walked them home, other days, Eloise wanted to stop and pick all the dandelions she saw in the grass, often giving them to Sarah. "Petty, mommy," she would say.

"Yes, very pretty. Just like you, baby girl."

Nap time was also one of the best times of Sarah's day; Eloise would sleep for a good two hours, which allowed Sarah to the daily house cleaning. Not that there was much to do; Chuck would always make a point of doing his fair share before he left of a morning. She couldn't ask for a better husband.

In the afternoons, Sarah liked to vary the activities she and Eloise would do; some days they would do some baking for Tyler to take to school and Chuck to work, others they would watch a bit of television; Sarah was addicted to Sesame Street, plus it was one of the only few kids' shows that didn't disturb her… 'The Night Garden' was weird. Some times they just curled up on the couch and read books, filling up the afternoon before the boys would return home.

These were their days and Sarah treasured every single one of them.

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><p><strong>Just to let you know, I call 'juice boxes', 'poppers'… it's a Queensland thing. <strong>

**Also, I did meet Jeri Ryan and it was the best day ever! She was super lovely. You can read my article about it here** - archives/7054

**I hoped you liked this little chapter… I'm hoping you will review and help me over the 100 reviews line. I've never had a fic with so many before; it's rather amazing. I love you all. **


	15. Never Grow Up

**A few people have asked me to write more about little Eloise; this chapter is for you. **

**I also want to thank everyone for all your support in making this the most popular fanfic that I have ever written. Over 100 reviews! I was so stoked when I hit that mark… for that, I will keep this story going until I have no more ideas… who knows when that will be. **

ref51907 **has asked me to write a couple **_**Chuck **_**songfics, which I am getting to. You'll probably see them as separate to **_Toes in the Sand__**.**_** Uni has been a butt lately. I just handed in a 30-page assignment on Friday and finished off another one yesterday; I just haven't had any time to write lately. **

**Oh and Jeanne, Pete and Myka belong together!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 15 –<strong> _Never Grow Up_

_Your little hands wrapped around my finger_

_And it's so quiet in the world tonight_

_Your little eyelids flutter 'cause you're dreaming_

_So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night-light_

Tyler Bartowski peered through the slats of the crib, staring at his new baby sister.

"She's cute, huh? You think we can keep her?" came a soft baritone voice beside him.

Tyler nodded and looked up to his father. "She looks like mommy." He paused and looked back at the baby. "Pretty."

"Yeah, I think so, too." Chuck knelt down to his son's eye level and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You need to help me and your mom look after her, okay? Make sure she's always safe."

"I can do that." Eloise started to fuss so Tyler slipped his arm through the gap of the crib and held Eloise's tiny hand in his. Whispering quietly in her ear, he said, "Don't be scared Ella, you're safe here. Me and mommy and dad are won't let anything happen to you. Go back to sleep."

Almost instantly, Tyler's soft voice calmed the baby girl. She blinked open her eyes, momentarily focusing on her big brother before sleep once again claimed her tiny body.

"C'mon, Ty, we should let her sleep some more before she wakes up to be fed." Chuck ran his hand over his son's head as he lead the boy out of the nursery, only stopping to flick on the night-light in the corner of the room that faintly illuminated the world and chased away the nightmares.

_To you, everything's funny_

_You got nothing to regret_

_I'd give all I have, honey_

_If you could stay like that_

A three-year-old Eloise Bartowski sat on the couch glued to the television that was playing _Elmo's World. _It was only for the hour of the day that this and _Sesame Street _was on did Sarah get uninterrupted time to do some quick cleaning of the house. On the instances she finished early, Sarah stood quietly leaning against the hallway wall watching her daughter, enthralled with the little red Muppet.

On occasion, Eloise would laugh out loud at the antics Elmo and Zoe got up to. Her laugh was infectious and Sarah couldn't help but grin. Sarah loved her daughter's innocence; she vowed Eloise would never have to see or do the things she ever did. The CIA would never get their hands on her children, especially her little girl.

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_Just stay this little_

_Oh, darling, don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up_

_It could stay this simple_

Sarah couldn't believe her little girl was heading off to school; it seemed just like yesterday that Eloise was a tiny baby, sleeping in her arms. Her baby was no longer a baby and it scared her. Sarah sat on her bed, flipping through one of the many photo albums she and Chuck kept of their family. Occasionally a tear slipped down her cheek and dripped onto the plastic pages below. Chuck found her there, wiping the tears she caught from her face.

"She's going to be fine, Sarah," Chuck said softly to his wife as he sat down on the bed beside her, pulling half the photo album onto his own outstretched legs.

Sarah sighed and leaned into her husband's chest. "I know." She pulled out one of the photos from the album and handed it to Chuck. "Remember this one?"

Chuck smiled. "How could I forget? Taking her first steps at nine months old; she's a genius." Wrapping his arm around his wife, Chuck softly kissed her temple. "She takes after her mom."

"I just wish she could stay little; the thought of her growing up scares me. I have a son in junior high already; I'm not ready for her to leave me." Sarah's tears started flowing freely again.

"Honey, Eloise is not leaving you just yet. She'll be home before you know it. And don't forget, she'll always be our baby girl, no matter how old she gets."

_I won't let nobody hurt you_

_Won't let no one break your heart_

_No, no one will desert you_

_Just try to never grow up, never grow up_

Lying on her bed, face buried in her pillow, Eloise let the tears flow freely. She wasn't sure how long she laid there, but as the sun started to set outside her bedroom window, there was a knock at her door. Slowly, she at up, leaning against the headboard, and wiping the few tears that continued to fall.

"Come in." Looking up at the visitor, Eloise burst into tears again. Tyler took one glance at his little sister and rushed to her side, sweeping her in his arms.

"What happened?" Tyler asked when Eloise stopped crying.

"Tom," she replied.

Tyler struggled to keep calm after hearing her boyfriend's name, but kept his emotions in check to get the whole story.

At seventeen, Eloise was the spitting image of her mother with the exception of having her father's deep brown eyes. As a result, she was one of the most popular girls at her high school. Even so, very few 'suitors' would make it past the first dates; most of the boys were intimidated by her intelligence and beauty. However, Tom managed to get to eight months worth of dates.

"What about Tom?"

"We broke up."

Tyler sighed. Getting information was like pulling teeth. "Why?"

"I caught him cheating on me," Eloise said softly into her hands.

This made Tyler see red. Jumping off the bed, he roared, "He did what? I'm going to kill that little punk!"

Eloise put a hand on her brother's arm. "Ty, no. He's not worth it." She paused and smiled wickedly, "Besides, you couldn't do anymore to him than I already have."

Tyler narrowed his eyes at his little sister. "What did you do?"

"Nothing an icepack to the groin won't cure."

Laughing, Tyler sat back down on the bed and wrapped his arm around his sister. "I'm sorry he hurt you, Ella, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you."

"As much as you and dad want to, you can't protect me forever, Ty. But thank you, you're the best big brother I could ever ask for."

_You're in the car on the way to the movies_

_And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off_

_At 14, there's just so much you can't do_

_And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots_

_But don't make her drop you off around the block_

_Remember that she's getting older, too_

_And don't lose the way that you dance around_

_In your PJs getting ready for school_

"Why couldn't we take your new Porsche, mom? The Nerd Herder is so lame," Eloise complained as Sarah drove to the local cinemas, the fourteen-year-old sinking low in her chair with embarrassment. She couldn't wait to be old enough to have her own car and drive herself places.

"You know that Ty asked to borrow it for his date tonight; this is the only other car we have. Unless you would have preferred to take your bike or even the bus, you're just going to have to live with rocking up in this." Sarah glanced over to her daughter, and smiled at her antics. "It's not like I haven't taken you anywhere in this car before, what changed?"

Eloise sighed. "Brady is going to be there," she mumbled.

Sarah nodded in understanding. "Ah. And you don't want him to think you're lame, right?"

"Yeah."

"Can I tell you a little story about this car?" Sarah asked.

"Whatever," Eloise huffed.

"Have I ever told you about mine and your dad's first date?"

Eloise looked quizzically at her mother. "In Paris?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, I mean the one we had almost four years earlier when I was sent to Burbank to find out if your dad really had stolen government secrets."

"You've never really told me much about when you and dad met."

"Well, despite being ordered to go out with him, I realised I was actually really excited about it. When he came to my hotel room to pick me up, he was this adorable little geek and instead of taking my car, which was also a Porsche, we ended up going in the Nerd Herder."

Eloise laughed. "Dad took you out in the Nerd Herder? And you're still with him? C'mon, mom, this car is ridiculous."

"To you, maybe, but this car means a lot to your dad and I. We used to go on missions together in it as well as dates. You shouldn't try to be someone who you're not, Ella, especially for a boy."

"I suppose," she acquiesced.

"Besides, if Brady thinks you're lame just for arriving in a car other than a sports car, maybe we should let your Uncle John have a few words with him." Sarah pulled up in front of the cinemas where her daughter's friends were waiting.

Grinning, Eloise jumped out of the car, waving goodbye to her mother. "Thanks, mom. For everything."

"Have fun, sweetie. Call me when you're done; maybe Ty will be done with the other car by the time you're finished."

With one final glance back at her mother, Ella hurried over to her friends, chatting wildly as she reached them. Sarah slowly pulled away, wondering to herself when she got old enough to have a daughter liking boys. Wasn't her daughter still only six? Wasn't she still the little girl who preferred to dance around in the living room in her pyjamas instead of getting ready for school?

_Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room_

_Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home_

_Remember the footsteps; remember the words said_

_And all your __**big**__ brother's favorite songs_

_I just realized everything I have_

_Is someday gonna be gone_

Eloise Bartowski sat in the middle of her now Spartan childhood bedroom; everything she now owned was in boxes, preparing for their trip to Boston and her new apartment just off the Harvard campus. She decided to follow in the footsteps of her aunt and uncle and go into the medical profession.

Looking around at the bare walls and empty closet, the soft yellow walls seemed dull, sad that the occupant of the once vibrant room was leaving. Remembering the bedtime stories her parents and brother would read to her and the sleepovers she had with her best friends from elementary school all the way up to just last month, a lone tear fell down her porcelain-like cheek.

Eloise picked up her remaining suitcase and headed downstairs, stopping at the archway that her parents' names were etched, and below and along side it was hers and Tyler's growth chart. She always wanted to be taller than her brother, but alas, she never inherited the Bartowski growth genes and was stuck being a couple inches shorter than her mother, whilst Tyler topped six feet four. Ella knew she had the best big brother a girl could ask for; he was so much like their father, it was almost uncanny. Even though he moved out a few years earlier, she knew she could always count on Ty

She felt the love emanating throughout the house; this was her home. All the memories, good and bad, came from this one place. The kitchen was where her dad would cook Sunday pancakes, the dining room table was where her and her mother would spend hours making arts and crafts and the tree house in the back yard was where she fell and broke her arm when she was ten. Running her hand along the mantle above the fireplace, Ella took in all her father's collectables; remembering that it was from the very tender age of three was she inducted into the Star Wars fan club.

Finally, Eloise headed out the bright red front door to face her future, hoping that it would be as fulfilling as her past.

_So here I am in my new apartment_

_In a big city, they just dropped me off_

_It's so much colder than I thought it would be_

_So I tuck myself in and turn my night-light on_

_Wish I'd never grown up_

_I wish I'd never grown up_

_Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up_

_Could still be little_

_Oh, I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up_

_It could still be simple_

Moving into Eloise's off-campus apartment had been a family affair. Chuck and Sarah had driven the rental truck to Boston, while Ella, Tyler and his fiancée, Amy, drove in Ella's car.

Two days after the family arrived and unpacked Eloise's belongings, it was time for them to leave.

"Stay safe, okay." Sarah pulled her baby girl in for a hug, kissing her cheek softly. "I love you."

Eloise moved to her dad and did the same. "Remember, you can come home whenever you want. The door is always open for you."

"Thanks, daddy." Eloise wiped away the tears and hugged her brother tightly. "Time to let go Ty, you've got another girl to protect now."

"I've got room for both of you, Elle. Just stay out of trouble."

"I never get into trouble, Ty; that's you." The two siblings laughed as Eloise pulled back to look at her family. "You guys better go soon or I'll want to leave with you."

After waving goodbye to her family, Ella trudged up the stairs to her third floor apartment, tugging her jacket tighter around her body. She was alone now and it seemed as if her flat lacked the warmth of her home in Burbank. She had heard that the weather in the New England area was colder than that on the west coast, but she wasn't sure.

Her home was eerily quiet, and the noises she made while cooking up her spaghetti-ohs seemed to echo in the silence.

Ella moved slowly to her new bedroom, switching off the lights behind her as she went. Finding a note on her bed along with a small box, she unfolded the paper. It was from her dad.

_Ella,_

_I know you're all grown up now, but living alone can be a little bit scary. _

_I hope this little bit of your past may keep you warm and safe at night._

_Love, Dad._

Opening the box, Eloise pulled out her very first night-light from when she was a kid. She couldn't believe her dad kept it, and that it still worked. Plugging it in and flicking it on, Ella climbed into bed, wishing she could have stayed little forever. Growing up sucked sometimes.

It was going to be a long eight years living in Boston; she was glad she had a somewhere to go home to.

* * *

><p><strong>A shout out to <strong>_**Sesame Street **_**because Jerry Nelson, the voice of The Count has recently passed. RIP.**

**I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It's my 24****th**** birthday in 4 days (Aussie time), so please make me happy and let me know what you all think of it. If this little insight to Eloise's life was popular, I may do a similar style one for Tyler.**

**And a kid walking at 9 mths… it's possible; my little brother was walking at that age. **

**Oh yeah, and the song used was **_'Never Grow up' _**by Taylor Swift. **


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